Delaware Gazette: Campaign to Boost Local Real Estate
I had on my ”to blog” list a piece on the Columbus Board of REALTORS “Grass is Greener” initiative. However, Devon Immelt and the Delaware Gazette beat me to the punch and ran a nice article – and not just because I’m quoted – on the marketing initiative.
The bases of the Grass is Greener campaign, which will kick-off on April 15, is that the national media is using statistics from the extreme cases to scare buyers out of the market.
Are there places in the country where homes have lost 35-50% of their value? Yes.
Are they central Ohio? No.
Combine that with the tighted mortgage market and it has put a severe damper on the numbers of buyers in the market.
Campaign to boost local real estate
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Devon Immelt
Staff WriterCentral Ohio Realtors have a message for prospective home buyers in Delaware and Franklin counties — don’t believe all the gloom and doom hype.
The local housing market is stable, safe and relatively healthy as compared to markets in other parts of the country, said Larry Metzger, executive director of the Columbus Board of Realtors. The organization plans to launch an advertising campaign next month to spread that message. The goal: ease concerns and help jump start a local housing market it believes is suffering more as a result of a negative national housing picture than local market conditions.
“We truly believe that all real estate is local and the statistics that people are seeing day in and day out in the news are all national statistics,” Metzger said. “We don’t have the big swings in price that other states do, so therefore we’re not seeing the big swings downward.
Metzger and the Columbus Board of Realtors are asking county officials throughout Central Ohio to consider supporting the ad campaign financially. The organization serves Franklin, Delaware, Fayette, Morrow, Madison and Union counties. Delaware County Auditor Todd Hanks appeared before the Delaware County commissioners this week to make the request on behalf of the Board of Realtors.
Hanks said he expects the organization will seek a $100,000 contribution from the Franklin County commissioners. He made no specific dollar request of Delaware’s commissioners. Obviously, Delaware County would not be asked to provide as much, he said.
The commissioners spoke favorably of the campaign, but held off on making any financial commitments. Commissioner Jim Ward requested Hanks first provide details on what the Franklin County commissioners and other Central Ohio communities do in response to the request.
Local government leaders such as the commissioners have an interest in how the housing market fares because of the powerful economic engine that is the real estate industry. Delaware and Franklin counties together provided a combined $3.2 billion to the local economy in 2005 via dollars spent on the selling, buying and renovation of homes and the 33,000-plus local jobs associated with the industry, Hanks said.
That economic impact was dampened last year, however, dropping to about $1.2 billion for the two counties. Most of the downturn is attributable to the loss of building and real estate related jobs, Hanks said.
While Hanks acknowledged that Delaware’s housing market has cooled off its recent highs, he said real estate here remains stronger than in most of the state. To put things in perspective, despite the national slump, 2008 is currently on pace to be the fifth best year in terms of dollars in the 200-year history of Delaware County, he said.
Local Realtor Toby Boyce can attest to county’s real estate market downturn. A Delaware County Realtor since 2006, Boyce said he has had to take on a part-time job recently to supplement his Realtor income. But like Hanks and Metzger, Boyce sees no indication that the local market is in danger of taking the hit felt by real estate markets in coastal states.
“Personally, it is a tough time. But is it dire straits in terms of being a Realtor in Delaware County in this market? No, but there is some belt tightening,” Boyce said.
While Boyce doesn’t see the Columbus Board of Realtors marketing campaign as a cure-all, he supports the effort to change perspectives and, perhaps, calm lingering fears.
“It is good to remind people that we are not one of those huge bubble markets,” he said. “Things are getting better. We’re seeing more buyers and they’re looking for deals.
The Columbus Board of Realtors “The Grass is Greener Here” campaign will run from April 15 to July 15. The organization hopes to spend approximately $191,000 in billboard, radio and other media presentations and advertisements. The campaign also will feature a Web site that allows visitors to search for properties for sale in the area.
Article reprinted with permission
Photograph by Toby Boyce (C) 2008.
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