Central Ohio builders were busier in 2013
February 5th, 2014
Jim Weiker, The Columbus Dispatch
Central Ohio home construction jumped 17 percent in 2013, led by Dominion Homes, which leapt past M/I Homes to become central Ohio’s biggest builder.
Nearly 3,000 building permits were issued in central Ohio’s seven counties last year, up from 2,556 in 2012, according to the Binns Report, which tracks the local building industry.
Although that’s a long way from the frenzied pace of 2002 and 2003, when more than 10,000 homes a year were built in central Ohio, it was the busiest year since 2007 for an industry still recovering from the recession.
“As long as we continue to see steady, positive growth, that’s all we can ask for,” said Jim Hilz, executive director of the Building Industry Association of Central Ohio.
Home construction has benefited from improvements in the job market and the overall housing market. Homeowners are finding it easier to sell their homes to buy new ones. In addition, homebuilders are being helped by an extraordinarily low number of existing homes for sale, which reduces competition.
“The demand is there at every price point,” said Jon Jasper, president of Fischer Homes’ Columbus division. “There’s pent-up demand all the way up, from first-time buyers to empty nesters.”
Leading last year’s growth was Dominion Homes, which sold 664 houses in central Ohio, overtaking former No. 1 builder M/I Homes, which sold 483 houses, Binns reports.