Ohio's multifamily fundamentals may not be skyrocketing but they at least look stable, as highlighted in a recent report from Colliers, which took a look at major markets including Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati.
In terms of occupancy, the Cincinnati area stood out with its strong 96.1 percent rate in 2024, a 1 percent increase from the previous year. While Columbus saw no change quarter-over-quarter, the category was up slightly (0.3 percent) year-over-year, with Cleveland following the same rate as well. But Cleveland's fourth-quarter occupancy is down from the city's five average of 95.9 percent.
The results were more mixed on rents. For example, Columbus and Cleveland saw 2.9 percent and 2.1 percent annual rent growth to $1,353 and $1,341 respectively. However, both cities declined in the fourth quarter compared to the previous three months by 1.2 percent and one percent. Cincinnati's rents grew 2.6 percent annually to $1,437.
Regardless, all three Ohio markets are outpacing the national rent level, which dipped by an average of 1.2 percent in the fourth quarter and gained 0.4 percent year-over-year.
For Cincinnati, Colliers expects to see similar trends in 2025 as last year, with stable occupancy and rent growth at a slow pace. Things look a little more bullish in Columbus.
"The twelve-month forecast for Columbus is demand outweighing supply slightly, stable occupancy at 95% and moderate rent growth of 3.2%," Colliers wrote.
Some of the top purchases for apartments in all of Ohio included Brookhaven Property Group's $65.57 million acquisition of a 789-unit asset in Cleveland-Akron, and Realty Mogul buying 229-unit Xander on State for $43.55 million in Columbus.