Housing prices going up around Ohio State’s campus

Kathleen Martini
Wed, 19 Mar 2014 03:59:26 +0000
Campus, housing, off campus, ohio state, osu

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Some students might need to stretch their dollar a little further in coming years, as trends show that Ohio State campus area rent is on the rise.

A sample of 14 larger properties within one mile of the university area showed an average increase of 3.45 percent annually between 2003 and 2013, said Brian Gault, vice president and project director of Vogt Santer Insights, in an email Feb. 26.

Vogt Santer Insights is a Columbus-based real estate research firm that creates housing market forecasts for clients, according to its website.

“Among those 14 (properties), the rents at various properties increased an annual average range of 0.6 percent to 7.4 percent between 2003 and 2013, when we last conducted a thorough survey of the OSU off-campus area housing,” Gault said.

The increase in the university district is greater than the average annual rent increase in Columbus overall, which is 2 percent, he said.

A one-bedroom apartment in the university area has a median rent of $750, according to a survey conducted by Vogt Santer Insights in 2013. A two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment goes for a median rent of $1,400 per month, and a four-bedroom, two-bathroom place runs at a median of $1,976 in rent.

Gault noted the prices might have increased since the 2013 survey.

He said the increases are not surprising, given the increasing demand for housing within walking distance of campus.

“OSU undergraduate enrollment alone has grown by almost 6,700 students between fall 2004 and fall 2013,” he said. “This growth, combined with a moderate amount of new apartment development that has not kept pace with enrollment growth, has allowed campus-area owners at higher quality properties to increase rents at faster rates than owners of properties where students have less influence on market demand.”

The demand could lower in the near future, with the requirement to keep students in on-campus housing in their second year at OSU set to start for the 2016-17 school year. Campus dorms are in the process of being renovated and expanded to facilitate that change.

The North Residential District Transformation is a $370 million renovation to the North Campus District that plans to add 3,200 additional student beds through the construction of 11 new buildings, which are expected to be ready for move-in fall 2016, in time for the start of OSU’s planned second-year live on requirement.

The $171 million South Campus High Rise Renovation and Addition Project, which renovated several South Campus residence halls, was completed at the beginning of Fall Semester.

Some students said they see the trend of increasing prices as problematic if the places being rented aren’t being kept up.

“My landlord doesn’t respond well (to maintenance requests),” said Karissa Dodge, a second-year in animal sciences who lives in a house near 15th Avenue and Summit Street. “So if your landlord is responsive, then a price raise is fine. But if you’re like mine, it’s probably not.”

Dodge said she lives with five other girls and their total rent is $2,730 per month.

Others said they think the rent in the university area is already more than it should be.

“It’s kind of a rip off,” said Nick Wilker, a fourth-year in agricultural business who lives in an apartment on Indianola Avenue. “They shouldn’t be near that expensive.”

Despite the quality being less than what he thinks it should be for the price, Wilker said he doesn’t see the trend changing.

“The rent should be about half of what it is,” Wilker said, “but they know they can get it (at the price it is).”