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Cincinnati/Middletown: Bottom 20 for real estate recovery

Jay Hanselman
/
WVXU

In its first-ever Housing Market Recovery Index, RealtyTracreports the Cincinnati/Middletown market is in the  bottom 20 markets which lag the real estate recovery nationally. (among the 100 markets ranked by RealtyTrac)

The index was calculated based on these seven different factors:

  • unemployment rate
  • underwater loans percentage
  • foreclosure activity percent change from peak
  • distressed sales percent of total sales
  • institutional investors share of total sales
  • cash purchases share of total sales
  • median home price percent change from bottom

Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, says the U.S. housing market is in recovery mode with home prices on the increase and foreclosures down to pre-housing bubble levels. "Still symptoms of the distress that plagued the housing market over the past seven years continue to linger, particularly in the form of a high percentage of underwater borrowers and distressed sales. This lingering distress is creating an uneven pace of recovery across different local markets." He also says Ohio's lengthy judicial process creates a "backlog of pent-up foreclosure activity."

Here are the bottom 20 markets (from worst to best) lagging the real estate recovery, according to RealtyTrac:

  1. Baltimore-Towson, MD
  2. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ
  3. Rockford, IL
  4. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA, NJ, DE
  5. Hagerstown-Martinsburg- MD, WV
  6. Colorado Springs, CO
  7. Fresno, CA
  8. Visalia-Porterville, CA
  9. Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL
  10. Salem, OR
  11. Tallahassee, FL
  12. York-Hanover, PA
  13. Wilmington, NC
  14. Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA, NC
  15. Ocala, FL
  16. Lancaster, PA
  17. Stockton, CA
  18. Cincinnati-Middletown, OH
  19. Mobile, AL
  20. Port St. Lucie, FL

For Cincinnati-Middletown, RealtyTrac listed the unemployment rate at 7.4, the underwater percentage at 30%, foreclosure activity percent change from peak: -45%, distressed sales percent of total sales: 35%, institutional investors share of total sales: 11%, cash purchases share of total sales: 38% and median home price percent chage from bottom: 22%. The total recovery index =97.

Here are specific numbers for Cincinnati.

These cities are doing well:

Rochester, New York tops the list of markets with the strongest signs of recovery. Other cities doing well include Cape Coral, Florida, San Jose, California and Atlanta, Georgia.

Cities leading the recovery:

  • Rochester, NY
  • Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL
  • Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
  • San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
  • Birmingham-Hoover, AL
  • Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA
  • Ft. Collins-Loveland, CO
  • Flint, MI
  • Oklahoma City, OK
  • Greenville-Mauldin-Easley, SC
  • Tulsa, OK
  • Madison, WI
  • Boulder, CO
  • Reno-Sparks, NV
  • Pittsburgh, PA
  • Duluth, MN
  • Tucson, AZ
  • Spartanburg, SC
  • Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA, IL

Ann Thompson has decades of journalism experience in the Greater Cincinnati market and brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her reporting.