Greater Dayton

Housing and Living

Home in Beavercreek A Home in Beavercreek

Like other real estate markets across the country, the Greater Dayton and Miami Valley housing market is suffering from tight inventories and rising prices. In addition, builders are still experiencing a rise in the cost of materials as they were last year. However, the housing market is diverse, offering various options to rent or own a home, from lower cost condominiums to upscale multi-bedroom homes.

“Home prices have steadily rose over the past two years as the number of available properties in the Miami Valley remain limited,” says Bob Jones, spokesperson for Dayton REALTORS, an organization that tracks the industry. “The demand for homes, combined with the lack of robust inventory, has led to occasional bidding wars on desired homes and pushed prices higher. That being said, the region does continue to be among the most affordable areas in the nation in which to live and work.”

According to a recent report published by the Dayton REALTORS tracking sales and prices from February of 2021 to February of 2022, sales of single-family homes and condominiums across that period saw a gain in price, but an overall drop in sales. Sales amounted to 979 units during the period, off from 1,020 the year prior, a 4% decrease. February’s average price totaled $216,696, up by over 11%, while the median price of a home jumped 13% in the last year to $180,800. Cumulative sales volume of $212 million was an increase of 7%.

Tight inventory continued in the Dayton area contributing to the lower number of sales, but listings submitted in the month of February showed at least a hope for more homes on the market. Listings increased 5% to 1,114 entries. For the January-February period, 2,204 listings were entered, up just a few units from last year’s 2,190 listings. The overall active single-family and condominium inventory of available listings at the end of February stood at just 670 and represented less than one month’s supply of listings based on February’s resale rate.

“There is no crystal ball regarding whether prices will continue to rise,” Jones adds, “but new-home construction and more available properties are certainly needed to fill the demand REALTORS are seeing in the Dayton region.”

- Terry Troy


Helping Homebuyers Thrive

Thrive Mortgage helps people build the homes of their dreams

Thrive Mortgage Thrive Mortgage

Thrive Mortgage spent much of 2021 celebrating its 20th anniversary. And there has been a great deal to celebrate. Over the last 10 years, the independent mortgage bank has achieved an average of almost 30% year-over-year growth in origination volume. Through all the growth and success, Thrive has maintained the close-knit community feel that was at the heart of a company’s founding.

Our local home loan professionals will help welcome you to our incredible city and all it has to offer!

Thrive’s mission is to achieve two key outcomes: to create a legendary lending experience for clients and an amazing workplace environment for employees and partners. The growth and coast-to-coast expansion of the company, along with an exceptionally high reputation for serving our clients, has proven our ability to deliver on the first. For the last four years, Thrive Mortgage has been ranked as one of the industry’s Best Mortgage Companies to Work For based on employee feedback gathered by an independent company.

Partnering with You

Very few lenders in the mortgage industry have the diversity of loan product offerings to offer their clients. Our time together during the home purchase process is more than a transaction, it’s a partnership. We partner with you to make sure every home purchase decision achieves your short-term needs on the way to your long-term goals!

Our Product Offerings

With our extensive product offerings, we can tailor financing for just about any need. Our industry leading Home2Home program removes contingencies when making an offer, Offer Ready provides a fully underwritten approval to add strength to your offer, and eClosing with full remote online notary/closings (RON) allow for flexibility when needed.

BUILD is the national builder lending division for Thrive Mortgage, providing comprehensive solutions to builders and buyers across the country. From custom builders to volume builders, we offer a full range of construction lending products. Every builder is as different as the homes they build, every partnership should be equally unique.

With our extensive investor relationships, program alternatives, Non-QM products, Reverse Lending and Reverse for Purchase, as well as other proprietary, niche products, Thrive boasts a catalog of product offerings that numbers in the thousands! And that is a list that is growing by the week.

Alone We Dream—Together We Thrive

Community is the best descriptor of our people. Our achievements are celebrated together. Collectively, we support and engage in the things that matter. Our culture is what drives our success.

We’re Your Local Lending Experts, Contact us today, 937-400-0414,
www.ThriveMortgage.com
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*All loans are subject to underwriting or investor approval. Other restrictions may apply. This is not an offer of credit or commitment to lend. Guidelines subject to change. 2021

Branch NMLS# 1900809


More than 70 Years of Experience

Oberer Oberer Homes offers countless customization options.

Oberer Homes finds a home in Greater Dayton area

As one of the preeminent home builders in the Greater Dayton area, it’s safe to say that Oberer Homes likes the location.

“We have been here for over 70 years and are a fourth generation, family-owned builder,” says Traci Bohn, marketing director for the company. “Dayton is our home, and we have been building here since we started in 1949. Since then, we have expanded and grown into different states and different markets, but we always come back to our home.” And for good reasons, she adds.

Dayton offers a downtown area full of unique activities and suburbs that provide close-knit communities, which continue to rank Dayton as one of the Top 100 best cities to live, according to the U.S. News and World Report. Additionally, with more than 350 miles of paved biking trails, historic neighborhoods and districts, there is a plethora of opportunities to find activities for enthusiasts of all kinds.

“Dayton also has a very rich history, with the Wright brothers, and there is a lot of innovation and development in our area that is tied to that aviation history,” Bohn says.

“The diverse culture is another big draw. We have a lot of different cultural festivals in Dayton and the surrounding areas,” Bohn adds. Like the Dayton Greek Festival, Dayton Celtic Festival, Italian Fall Festival and Ohio Renaissance Festival in Waynesville to name but a few. Then there are the arts, which include the Dayton Art Institute, Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, Victoria Theatre and the Dayton Ballet, the second oldest ballet company in the nation, which is celebrating its 85th anniversary throughout the 2022-2023 season.

So why are arts and culture so important to a home builder?

Aside from providing ample entertainment for its employees, arts and culture are important to the clients who buy Oberer Homes, a builder that prides itself on customization and not being an average cookie-cutter home builder. Oberer Homes’ buyers are people who covet a more active lifestyle, which also makes the plethora of recreation opportunities in the Greater Dayton area another key selling point.

“The Five Rivers MetroParks runs through the Dayton area, offering bike trails, walking paths and other recreational activities,” says Bohn. “Then we have Carillon Park.” Which is a 65-acre park in the heart of the city that serves as a main campus for Dayton history. “Of course, Dayton is also a very important residential market because of all the major employers we have in the area,” adds Bohn. “Such as Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Premier Health, Kettering Health, the University of Dayton and Fuyao Glass of America.”

The area is also home to several very strong school districts and collegiate education, which makes relocation to the area a very easy decision for top executives, says Bohn.

Oberer recently opened its 45th residential development in the Greater Dayton area, Cornerstone Villas. Cornerstone is a collection of patio homes tucked within the Cornerstone of Centerville development and within walking distance to dining, shopping, entertainment and groceries. The community is made up of 37 homesites with both attached and detached homes, featuring an open concept floor plan with single story living, three-to-four bedrooms, and a Florida Room off the rear of the home. n

Oberer Homes finds a home in Greater Dayton area

- Terry Troy


Why Build?

Due to the current housing market, there’s never been a better time to build your own home in the Miami Valley

With all the change and uncertainty happening in our world right now, it is understandable to think how housing has reshaped how we think of our lives. The demand for new homes continues to remain strong and is a quintessential part of the American Dream.

People have a better understanding of what they want in a home, and a new home can meet those needs. That homeowner awareness and steady demand, coupled with record low inventory and the demonstration of industry adaptability, makes right now an incredible time to consider building a new home.

While the market is tighter than ever before, the incentives for owning your own home still exist. With home values continuing to increase, buying a home is still considered a good investment. And as rents continue to rise, purchasing a home may help people decrease their monthly expenses.

For these reasons, more people may want to consider building a new home instead of buying one that currently exists.

“In terms of buying, right now your options are very limted. You have to settle for what is currently out there and wait for the perfect opportunity to provide a competitive bid that may, or may not, be accepted. That’s not an ideal situation for a life-long investment, but it is the reality facing a lot of consumers right now. Whereas if you’re looking to build, you could build something that’s exactly what you want,” says Gina Coates, president for Coates Custom Homes, and vice president of the Home Builders Association of Dayton.

The ability to get what you want—even during a seller’s market—is why more Realtors and home builders are suggesting prospective buyers turn to building their own home.

“Building a home allows a buyer to customize the home to fit their needs. You choose which options and features that are important to you and transform your home to fit your lifestyle,” says Erika Deady, sales coordinator at Oberer Homes and president of the Home Builders Association of Dayton.

And while building your own home may seem like an option available only to the very wealthy, there is a wide variety of home builders to fit many different price points. Oberer Homes, for example, offers 30 different layouts for buyers to choose from that can then be customized. Buyers can also choose from a lot in one of Oberer’s developed communities or on another lot of their choosing.

“The options are endless. You imagine it and we can create it. The buyer can be as involved as they would like to be. We leave that up to them,” says Deady. “Building a home is an opportunity to create the space for family traditions to begin, for celebrations to be had and for safety and stability.”

Coates Custom Homes, on the other hand, works with buyers to build new homes from scratch and can even assist them in finding a lot.

“We don’t have anything that buyers look at and say, ‘Oh, I like it, let’s just build that.’ Every home that we build is going to be entirely different from all the other ones,” says Coates.

No matter what company you choose to build your home, both Coates and Deady suggest going with a company affiliated with the Home Builders Association of Dayton (HBA).

“The builders accepted as members of the HBA are well established and proven builders that adhere to the industry’s highest standards and have three core components: trust, expertise and professionalism,” says Deady.

“We have members that go across the entire spectrum as far as helping out with affordable housing to the high custom end of things. You’ve got to work with people that can cater to every level of the industry,” adds Coates.

Members of the HBA of Dayton represent the absolute best of the home building, development and remodeling industry in Warren, Montgomery, Greene, Preble and Darke counties. Finding a professional you can trust is of the utmost importance and all HBA members are pros that will shoot straight, tell you what needs to be done and offer honest, fair pricing for every job. Additionally, members adhere to the highest industry standards and it shows through in the high-quality homes and projects members build throughout the Dayton region. And finally, the HBA of Dayton has the professionals to make the process easy and pleasant because you aren’t just building a house—you’re building a long-lasting relationship with your builder.

When you and your family envision living in the Dayton region—being active members in the community who share the same values of others in the region—you can trust the HBA of Dayton to help you on your journey. Find them on their social platforms @HBADayton and visit HBADayton.com to begin your journey.

Due to the current housing market, there’s never been a better time to build your own home in the Miami Valley

- Corinne Minard


Benefits of Building Your Home

A New Home Equals a Healthy Home

During times like this, who doesn’t want to live in a brand new, clean home that has never been lived in?

Plus, new homes right now are often emphasizing more natural light as well as indoor-outdoor features that allow the homeowner to feel less confined in their home and more connected to the outside world.

Open, Flexible Space

Many families continue to realize how much they appreciate more open spaces today. A new home can provide the solutions to your family’s ever-evolving needs and priorities.

Life Doesn’t Stop

Aspects of our lives may have changed over the past two years, but life does not stop. People still need to move due to relocation, growing families, downsizing and various lifestyle changes.

Shortage of Available Housing

Existing home inventory does not come close to meeting the housing demand in our market right now, so building a new home is the best means for getting what you’re looking for.

Buying Trumps Renting

When financially comparing buying a home to renting, it is important to consider that your mortgage payment will not go up, but your rent will. If you can buy a new home at a lower payment and have that payment for the next 30 years, then why would you not buy?

New Construction Industry Continues to Adapt

Builders and suppliers are quickly adapting to the changing environment we live in. The necessity of new processes will impact the way our industry offers solutions and does business long-term. Many industry professionals are now offering virtual tours, video walk throughs of move-in ready homes, and model homes, virtual design centers, and progess videos during construction meetings.