Cleveland's low cost of living, affordable housing, and cultural amenities are drawing in a "wave" of millennials, experts said at a recent real estate trends forum.
There were differing views on what the 'big question' facing Cleveland's housing market might be. Andrew Warren, a director of real estate research at PricewaterhouseCoopers said that the big question is "whether the quality of the existing excess housing is a viable alternative to building new housing ... Sometimes you have to create the buzz about what others aren’t seeing." Robert Simons, urban studies professor at Cleveland State University, pointed to the lack of single-family housing starts, and the question of investment potential, per the Urban Land Institute.
The Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2018 report on the Americas, published by ULI and PwC, reflects that cautious optimism regarding Cleveland. The city ranks 56th in “overall real estate prospects” among 78 U.S. cities in the survey, behind other Ohio cities Cincinnati (24th) and Columbus (44th). But Cleveland ranks in the top half among cities for homebuilding prospects and is in the middle of the pack among midwestern cities in terms of local outlook.
