Central Ohio housing strain tied to limited supply, zoning and infrastructure, panelists say

Panelists at a Columbus Metropolitan Club forum said limited housing supply, local zoning rules and infrastructure constraints are the primary drivers behind sharp price increases and reduced affordability in Central Ohio.

"Columbus is growing and has jobs and business coming here in a way that hasn't in my lifetime," said Josh Barkin, Division Vice President of MI Homes in Central Ohio. "The other side of it is we have a real supply issue, a real inventory problem in Central Ohio, and that is driving prices up."

The panel, moderated by Bonnie Meibers, commercial real estate reporter with Columbus Business First, included John Malkai, executive director of the Building Industry Association of Central Ohio, and Buffie Patterson, president of the Columbus Realtors Board of Directors. Speakers discussed what they called a multi-part problem: strong demand for Columbus housing; local zoning and permitting hurdles; limited sewer and water infrastructure in some suburban and exurban counties; increased materials and labor costs; and the resulting pressure on middle-income "workforce" housing.

"We should be building between 17,000 and 19,000 homes a year. We're going to be around 11,000," Malkai said, calling the gap a "persistent 6- to 8,000 home deficit" that has accumulated over more than a decade. He added that the average new-construction single-family home in Central Ohio is now "over half a $1,000,000," and that existing-home medians in the market were being reported in the "mid-$300,000s."

Panelists framed zoning and infrastructure as the two biggest local constraints. Barkin and Malkai said zoning decisions are highly fragmented across dozens of local jurisdictions in the region and that sewer access can be a gating factor for new subdivisions. "If they can't connect to a sewer system, the house doesn't get built," Malkai said, citing Licking County and parts of the suburban ring as examples where sewer extension is difficult and costly.

On zoning, panelists said Columbusrecently revised its zoning code but noted that only a minority of parcels were rezoned in that update. "It's an important first step," Malkai said, "but it can't stop. We cannot wait for step two." Patterson said the region needs to increase acceptance of higher-density housing types, including slab foundations and attached townhomes, to meet affordability goals.

Panelists also discussed institutional investors and rental ownership. Malkai said studies show institutional investors hold a small share of single-family homes nationally and that institutional activity is often a symptom of constrained supply. "On a macro level, it is not a significant issue," he said, while acknowledging it can have micro-level impacts on particular blocks or neighborhoods.

Audience members raised related issues: policies to preserve affordable neighborhoods, incentives to rehabilitate vacant homes, high local real estate taxes and how economic-development incentives could be conditioned to produce housing. Bridal Urbanski, co-founder and executive director of the Ivory Affordable Housing Foundation, urged short-term incentives to help owner-occupants and small landlords bring existing homes up to safe, habitable condition.

Panelists emphasized state- and local-level policy change as necessary. Malkai described Ohio as a "home rule" state with township-level zoning and a referendum process that can overturn local zoning approvals, and he suggested reforms to streamline zoning, annexation and infrastructure funding. They urged coordinating local governments, builders, lenders and community groups to increase production of middle-income workforce housing rather than relying on outside aid.

"Homes are where jobs go at night," Malkai said. "We need to think about the employee as much as we think about the job." The panelists repeatedly returned to the central prescription: increase housing supply through local zoning changes, targeted infrastructure investment and regulatory clarity.

The forum was presented by the Columbus Metropolitan Club and featured audience Q&A on climate migration, density, rehabilitation of vacant properties and incentives for mixed-income development. No formal actions or votes were taken at the event.