HousingWireHousingWire
Toledo, Ohio — once off the radar for most real estate investors — has transformed into a housing hotbed.
New data shows rising home prices and affordability pressures nationwide turning lower-cost cities like Toledo into magnets for investor activity, pushing prices higher and sometimes edging out local buyers.
The city topped the latest The Wall Street Journal/Realtor.com Emerging Housing Markets Index, which ranks U.S. metros based on price appreciation, economic growth, lifestyle amenities, and climate resilience.
Altos Research data shows Toledo’s current average home sale price sitting at $285,000 — up 24% from roughly $160,000 at this time in 2022.
Increases are most pronounced among lower priced properties. Those in the bottom fourth of the market have seen prices jump 57% over the past three years — now coming in at an average of $79,000. That’s slightly down from $86,400 in February, according to Altos.
Local observations from Realtor Tyler Tresize of LPG Realty back up those findings.
“It’s definitely price-line specific,” he told HousingWire. “The properties that are $200,000 to $500,000 aren’t seeing a flurry of investors. It’s the entry-level houses — definitely the ones under $100,000 — where there’s a decent amount of competition.
“Toledo, Ohio, is, to my knowledge, one of the only places where you can still buy something for $60,000 and rent it out for $1,000. I don’t think there are many places — not only in the U.S. but in the world — where you can get that kind of return.”
Properties ranking in the third price tier of Toledo’s market are now priced on average at 185,500, a 27% increase from late-April 2022, Altos data shows.
Investor activity in Toledo housing market
In the Toledo housing market, investor interest has more than doubled over the past six years. In February 2024, investors purchased 30% of all single-family homes sold in the area, up from 15% in 2018, according to Cotality.
When asked about Toledo’s market boom leading to conflict between investors and buyers who plan to occupy a property, as well as housing affordability concerns, Tresize said a number of factors come into play.
“The bigger issue for renters right now is that Lucas County just reassessed a lot of the property taxes,” he said. “So when it comes to setting rent, it’s purely based on cash flow. Rents are going up because the cost of ownership is going up due to the tax reassessment.
“The mayor is doing a lot to keep and bring jobs to Toledo. The downtown area is scaling up to encourage people to own and buy places. So I think there are a lot of factors keeping people here, honestly.”
National and international investors — including hedge funds and buyers from New York, San Francisco, Canada and Italy — now account for a significant portion of business for some Toledo agents, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said.
Impact on buyers and sellers
Local residents Leah and Nell Zimmerman, lifelong Toledoans, told WSJ they were outbid on their home purchase five times before finally having an offer accepted on their sixth try.
Sellers, on the other hand, are benefiting.
“We have a lot of manufacturing here. There’s a GM plant, a Jeep plant, and tons of other manufacturing,” Tresize said. “There are jobs here, and when kids graduate from the University of Toledo and look at other cities, the cost of living is so high. I think that’s making people stay.”
He added that use of debt service coverage ratio loans has made it easier for investors to get purchase financing.
“I don’t think this is a short-term bubble. I think this is just the new way of life. So investments are going to keep happening — especially in this area.”
