Cincinnati, OH - Growing or declining?

[Kevin Reynolds]

I've been researching Cincinnati, OH as a place to invest for buy and hold rentals.  I'm planning to purchase a multi-family property, but I'm getting conflicting reports so thought I'd reach out to the awesome bigger pockets community.  I've heard some say that Cincinnati is a great place now because it is transitioning into a growth area again, while others are saying the city is experiencing a marginal increase in population and expect it to continue the trend it has had over the past 10 years of a declining population.

What are everyone's thoughts is it a boom or a bust?  Either way you choose - What information or data leads you to that conclusion?

[Caitlyn Hummer]

Cincinnati is ON THE RISE for sure. I've lived in the Cincinnati and Dayton area for a little over 10 years. In that time, OTR (Over The Rhine) which is just north of downtown has completely transformed. More and more young people are being drawn to the urban core. Five years ago, you could have bought an entire building in OTR for $10k. Now, a one bedroom condo in the area is at least $200k. And that trend is continuing to grow. All the immediate areas outside of OTR are starting to change for the better. GE just brough a HUGE headquarters downtown on the riverfront. Built an entire new campus. That was beginning of 2018 I believe. Procter and Gamble is a huge company with multiple facilities all around the city and suburbs. New construction continues to thrive in the outermost suburbs because there just isn't enough housing for the demand. Areas like Northside which were long neglected are starting to see the classic gentrification that's making the area great again and RE prices rise. It's all good. There is demand. It's only getting higher. I don't think Cincinnati is at all going to decline. The tri-cities of Ohio - Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton - are all seeing an increase in new businesses and positively changing neighborhoods. Cincinnati and Dayton are actually so close together, if they were one metro area (like Dallas/Ft. Worth), it'd be the size of San Diego. And that land in the middle that was farm land just 6-8 years ago? All new construction. The gap between the two cities is almost non-existent. Very, very positive!