An increase in Montgomery County housing values — the biggest in a decade — is projected for 2017, Auditor Karl Keith said Thursday during an update to local municipal and school district officials.
Moreover, home sales in Montgomery County between 2014-2016 increased almost 50 percent from 2011-2013, Keith said.
The trends are a welcome change from the depths of the Great Recession for municipalities facing revenue losses elsewhere.
“Every three years we update values. Last time we updated values in 2014, we saw a 4 percent decline overall,” Keith said, adding 2017 preliminary numbers project values to go up 3-5 percent countywide. “In ‘17, we’re looking for things to be a little better.”
The data show signs of a “big turnaround” since the last valuation in 2014, Keith said.
That year, a Dayton Daily News analysis found fully three-fourths of the homes in the county lost value between 2011 and 2014. That equated to a total loss of about $1 billion. That was on top of the $1.6 billion loss in housing values from 2008 to 2011, during the worst of the Great Recession.
Nearby counties are showing increases, too, over their past sales update cycles. In 2015, Warren County saw a 10 percent residential increase, Keith said, while Clark County and Miami County saw increases of 6 and 5 percent respectively this year.
“We went through some hard times, and now the pendulum seems to be going the other way, and we’re seeing signs of rebound,” Keith said.
Among those signs: New construction in Montgomery County reached $141 million in 2016. Of that, residential construction made up $75.9 million. Building experts note home construction is an important measure of the local economy because it raises property values and drives consumer spending.
With 253 new homes this year, residential construction in Washington Twp. totaled $41.5 million in 2016 — welcome news, said township Administrator Jesse Lightle.
“With all the state budget cuts that’s we’ve had that have affected Washington Twp. — with the loss of state tax, property tax, deregulation — increase in property values certainly helps us to provide exceptional services to our residents,” Lightle said. “It’s absolutely good news in Washington Twp. for Realtors, families and people trying to sell their homes.”
Still, some area communities faced declining residential values through revisions. There was a $7.7 million decline in residential value in Dayton and a $3.9 million reduction of commercial value in Trotwood.
“The inner core of the county, those are the areas that were hardest hit in the housing crisis and will be the slowest to rebound,” Keith said.
Home sales in 2016 through November hit 6,143 total, up from a low of 2,943 in 2011. Still, home sales are down overall since 2005, when 7,710 sales transacted. Still, Keith said emerging trends show the economic recovery is uneven across the county, with some areas ranking higher in sales.
For example, transactions in Centerville, Kettering, Miami Twp., Miamisburg, Oakwood and Washington Twp. account for nearly 50 percent of all home sales in the county, while the northern communities of Butler Twp., Clayton, Englewood, Huber Heights, Vandalia and Union account for 20 percent of sales.
NewsCenter 7 reporter Adam Marshall contributed reporting.
By the numbers
$141 million: Estimated value of new Montgomery County construction in 2016.
$75.9 million: Estimated value of new Montgomery County residential construction in 2016.
$41.5 million: Estimated value of new Washington Twp. residential construction in 2016.
$7.7 million: Estimated decline in residential values in Dayton in 2016.
6,143: Number of 2016 Montgomery County home sales through November.
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