Columbus OH - 2017 Market Overview

[Priyanshu Adathakkar]

Average Vacancy Rate in 2017 - 6.3%

12 Mo. Rent Growth - 3.5%

There are just under 165,000 units in the Columbus metro, and this figure has grown significantly over the course of the cycle. Since 2010, developers have expanded the inventory pool by around 20,000 units or nearly 15%.

Much of this construction has been in the Dublin/Hillard Submarket, which saw over 5,300 units come online.

The emphasis in this submarket has been on two-bedroom homes, showing that developers are catering to

young families, given the large employment base in the area.

Developers are also expanding farther south. The River South District is evolving into another urban neighborhood popular with renters, and new units are on the way.

The Polaris area is also creating a new identity for itself as well. JPMorgan Chase's main campus is here, and developers are hard at work turning this area into a live/work/play environment, much like Downtown and Upper Arlington. Since new product, such as 801 Polaris, stabilized in less than a year and multiple projects are underway, it seems that developers' plans to lure residents away from more core submarkets have been successful so far.