Real Estate Information

The City of Cincinnati has numerous projects underway to reduce the overall environmental impact of hardscaped surfaces. 

Oakley Square is receiving new streetscaping which includes pervious concrete sidewalks, gutters and pavers as well as rain gardens and urban bio-retention planters.  These planters reduce water runoff and the urban heat island effect.  As the Geier Esplanade is redesigned, the overall amount of impervious (concrete) pavement will be decreased and greenspace will increase.  This is being done in conjunction with new water lines along Madison Road, all the way to Ridge Road.

Spring Grove Avenue will have similar improvements done.  There will be 77 new street trees planted and over 6,000 square feet of rain gardens added to the public right-of-way.  It will transform the street.

Rain gardens allow rain water to flow into the ground where pollutants are cleared out.  Overall, they will reduce the storm water runoff and prevent overflow problems of sanitary waste into the Mill Creek waterway. 

In Camp Washington along Hopple Street, the pervious paver system will be installed along with recycled granite curbs. 

In downtown areas, the city plans to create "Green Alleys" that reuse historic clay bricks that have been salvaged and cleaned to build additional pervious pavement systems.  When building those, an underground storm water storage area composed of rocks and gravel is built, so that the water can filter through the pavement system and be held until the ground naturally absorbs it.  These areas compose between 5-10% of the total surface area of Over the Rhine and the Central Business District.

No wonder we see orange barrels everywhere we go!

Have you driven along the riverfront between the Great American Ball Park and Paul Brown Stadium? Yes, the Banks are becoming a reality. 

Have you been watching the tiara go up on the Great American Tower at Queen City Square? Then you shouldn't be surprised about this honor for Cincinnati!

For the second year in a row, Cincinnati ranked among America's top 10 cities for corporate real estate projects.  In 2008, we were ranked fourth and in 2009, we came in sixth in the nation according to Site Selection Magazine.  Isn't that great...considering the challenging economy!

In 2009, the Cincinnati metropolitan area recorded 89 corporate real estate projects, sixth best for metropolitan areas of over one million people.  Ohio did well...Dayton took the top spot for the second year in a row for cities between 200,000 and 1 million people.  Dayton had 46 projects listed.

All these projects provide employment and build the city's stature with the building industry.

The Federal Tax Stimulus drove sales in April, 2010, pushing Buyers to purchase by April 30 and demanding that Sellers price their homes to sell.  Traffic exceeded the usual expectations of Realtors for the April time frame.  Additionally, prices improved in the lower price ranges.

In fact, traffic was skewed to the lower end of the market.  First time buyers represented the majority of demand.  Homes listed for over $300,000 continue to be more difficult to sell than in the recent past.

There are currently 406 active listings in Hyde Park, Mt. Lookout, Oakley, and Columbia Tusculum.  There are 114 pending sales and 73 homes closed in April. 

The Federal Tax Stimulus drove sales in April, 2010, pushing Buyers to purchase by April 30 and demanding that Sellers price their homes to sell.  Traffic exceeded the usual expectations of Realtors for the April time frame.  Additionally, prices improved in the lower price ranges.

In fact, traffic was skewed to the lower end of the market.  First time buyers represented the majority of demand.  Homes listed for over $300,000 continue to be more difficult to sell than in the recent past.

There are currently 291 active listings in these neighborhoods in the Sycamore School distirct.  There are 83 pending sales and 59 homes closed in April. 

The Federal Tax Stimulus drove sales in April, 2010, pushing Buyers to purchase by April 30 and demanding that Sellers price their homes to sell.  Traffic exceeded the usual expectations of Realtors for the April time frame.  Additionally, prices improved in the lower price ranges.

In fact, traffic was skewed to the lower end of the market.  First time buyers represented the majority of demand.  Homes listed for over $300,000 continue to be more difficult to sell than in the recent past.

There are currently 452 active listings in Anderson Township and Newtown.  There are 113 pending sales and 44 homes closed in April. 

The Federal Tax Stimulus drove sales in April, 2010, pushing Buyers to purchase by April 30 and demanding that Sellers price their homes to sell.  Traffic exceeded the usual expectations of Realtors for the April time frame.  Additionally, prices improved in the lower price ranges.

In fact, traffic was skewed to the lower end of the market.  First time buyers represented the majority of demand.  Homes listed for over $300,000 continue to be more difficult to sell than in the recent past.

Currently, in the Mt. Adams market, Mt Adams has 35 active listings and 7 pending sales.  There were no closings in April.

The Greater Cincinnati area has some interesting historic tours available.  For instance, Newport Walking Tours has allowed over 4000 people to explore Newport's glamorous (gangster) past.

This year, they are expanding by offering a tour of Over the Rhine, because of its hundreds of historic buildings and famous residents. The first tours will be from May 27 through Memorial Day as an area fundraiser.  After that, the tours will be every Saturday.

Dubbed Queen City Underground: Bosses, Brewery and Burials, the tours will explore the people and events that shaped Cincinnati from the 1810's to the 1950's.  Sometimes, we think there are characters living there now, imagine how many characters have lived there over the 150 years this tour reviews!

They will explore the story of immigrants who built the area and key things that shaped the city.  Obviously, the beer brewing history of the area will be discussed.  George "Boss" Cox, an infamous Cincinnati mayor shouldn't be left out!  You'll hear about the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Harriet Beecher Stowe's school, Ezzard Charles's training grounds, buildings where Wild Bill Hickok and Charlie Chaplin performed, etc.

It is a testiment to the legacy of the Over the Rhine area that so many buildings still remain!

Other Tours                                                             

If you are interested in other unique Cincinnati tours, you should visit:

The Ghosts of Cincinnati at www.hauntedCincinnatiTours.com

Historic tours offered by Architrecks feature historic properties and walking tours of Downtown, Over the Rhine, Findlay Market/Brewery District, Mt. Adams, Walnut Hills, Northside/Cumminsville, and Clifton plus additional one-time tours.  Particularly explore the  "Outside-In" tours that allow you to get inside private buildings along tour routes.  Find out more about these at: http://cincinnatipreservation.org/architreks

From Tenements to Townhouses: Multi-Family Housing in Cincinnati display is presented at Betts House until Sept. 30th, 416 Clark Street, West End.  One of the walking tours is of Multi-Family Living in Walnut Hills on May 22, 10 AM.

Wednesdays at Krohn Conservatory                             

During the Butterfly Show at Krohn Conservatory, they are opening especially on Wednesday evenings from 5:30-8:30 PM for you to enjoy the butterflies, Japanese Gardens, bonsai and ikebana.  You will sample sake and other Japanese drinks, as well as musical entertainment.

The goal is to allow us to experience the Japanese culture, its flora and fauna, right here in Cincinnati.  Japanese artist's work will be displayed. Plus, tourism videos will be shown of different areas in Japan.

Local bands that you can hear are:

Shiny Old Soul - May 19 (Part Jazz, part rock, all original, acoustic)

The Electric Generals - May 26

Kyle English - June 2 (Solo, Acoustic guitar player)

Jason Ludwig - June 9 (Singer/songwriter, plays with Noctaluca)

A new feature offered at the Krohn is the ability to download MPEG-4 video files to your I-phone and follow the tour as you visit various plant houses.  What a way to be able to learn as you tour!

Tens of thousands of our country's families learned more about fire safety and home fire hazards through the interactive Fire Safety Pledge Program sponsored by Liberty Mutual.  Each time a family tested their fire safety knowledge with a short quiz and was then credited a point to their local fire department. The Cincinnati Fire Department was one of only two departments honored in the large fire department category.

The $10,000 award will be used for the Safe Summer Nights Program.  This program allows the fire companies to target neighborhoods from May to October. They are handing out free smoke alarms, batteries, and carbon monoxide alarms for those in need. It will also be used to increase educational programming for the public.

The Cincinnati Fire Department (CFD) was organized in 1853 and is the nation’s oldest, fully-paid professional fire department.

Homes sales for the month of March, 2010 jumped noticeably from numbers for 2009.  April is expected to be even better.

Playing a key role in this upturn is the Home Buyers Federal Tax Credit of $8000 for first time buyers and $6500 for Sellers who have lived in their homes for at least five years.

Other factors that influence the upswing is the current low interest rates, hovering around 5%.  Also, Spring always signals increased interest in home buying.

Inventory of homes remains relatively high, at 8.59 months, based on the past month's sales activity.  A year ago, it stood at 9.91 months, so a gradual improvement is taking place.  The National Association of Realtors (NAR) says that 6 months of inventory is a balanced market.

The Housing Affordability Index indicates that more people can afford to by a home than in the past 40 years.  This index compares home prices and interest rates.  It is easy to understand why there are many first time home buyers in the market.