If Cleveland is your back yard, then I would focus my efforts there, or at least another Ohio market, such as Cincinnati, Columbus.Not a fan of the population decline, but the market does have higher cap rates, and you will be able to find cash flowing deals. 

If median home prices are rising, it may indicate a strong market, whereas declining median prices could indicate a weaker market.Rental Yield: If you're interested in investing in rental properties, rental yield is an important metric to consider.

Quote from @Terry Imus: It's a request and you are welcome to decline."

Lol, I have been hearing about this BS stat about population decline for 10 years, DO NOT buy it Why new hotels, new restaurants massive residential buildings 2 lanes to 4, massive infrastructure, Amazon taking 3 mill sq ft, Has not appreciated as other areas, HMM, 100, 200, 300% ++++  over the last 10 years, on top of the 20- 25% net caps,,,,,, See this is what happens when you sit on the internet, BAD info.

Appreciation is probably not going to be all that great (unless there's some other economic factor that I'm not aware of) as larger companies like NCR have left and the population has been stagnant or declining over the past couple decades.Main point is, whatever investment you end up taking on just do your due diligence to fully understand the pros and cons (both long and short term) and make sure that aligns with your investing goals.

I wouldn't want to invest in a city with a declining population (like SF).

They also took our application and now are requesting a $299 application fee prior to underwriting and I'm timid to pay a fee for a potential decline. we are about 3pts over the DTI limits the manager told me which was high 30's.  

And since 2010 the population has slightly declined.

You will have people doing in both areas.I find it that some cities in upstate NY with declining populations.

The national housing market has only crashed twice in the last 120 years, and has only declined 3 times in that time frame. (1991 or so prices receded about $1800 in addition to the 2 aforementioned crashes)