Columbus Real Estate Outlook 2025: Elevated Home Prices, Major Developments, and Shocking Predictions

The Columbus real estate market is experiencing a significant boom in 2025, with various sectors showing strong growth and promising opportunities for investors.

The office market, while still in recovery mode following the pandemic disruptions, is showing signs of improvement, particularly in suburban submarkets. However, the office vacancy rate remains elevated, with downtown Columbus having a high vacancy rate above 22%.

The apartment market, on the other hand, is thriving. The median rent for apartments in Columbus is around $1,350, up nearly $500 since 2019. Despite the rise in rents, vacancy rates remain very low, a classic case of supply and demand imbalance. Approximately 5% of rentals have vacancies, near historic lows. Rents below four digits have practically disappeared in Columbus as new high-standard apartments enter the market and owners of older units raise prices due to high demand.

The rental sector in Columbus remains "one to watch" - a "landlord's market" for now, but with an urgent need for more affordable units to keep the city habitable for its workforce. The rental market is expected to remain favorable to landlords in the coming years, with vacancies remaining low (probably in the 5% or less range), due to strong job growth and a slowdown in new apartment deliveries after 2025.

The industrial sector is another success story. Columbus has grown significantly as a logistics hub, with the industrial market continuing to expand. Vacancy fell to 8.2% (Q2 2025) after a peak last year, indicating a healthy market.

The retail market is expected to remain strong, with 2-3% annual growth in retail rents seeming sustainable. By 2028, expect more lifestyle-centered mixed-use centers in growing suburbs and perhaps the revitalization of old shopping malls with new concepts. The retail sector is prospering, with vacancy hitting a historic low of around 3.9%.

For investors, multifamily properties in Columbus have been appealing due to relatively affordable prices and consistent rental growth. Analysts predict continued appreciation of prices in Columbus, with home values rising by 3% to 5% annually in the short term.

The city of Columbus and Franklin County have made unprecedented financial commitments to affordable housing, with a $200 million bond issue dedicated to affordable housing in 2022. City leaders are tackling housing scarcity by reforming zoning codes to allow faster development approvals and allocating unprecedented funding for affordability.

In the residential real estate market, the median selling price of homes in Columbus reached around $350,000 by mid-2025, an increase of ~4-5% year-over-year. Interest rates remain uncertain, around 7% at the start of 2025, but even a drop to 6% could allow thousands of Columbus buyers to enter the market.

Neighborhoods just outside I-270 - like Grove City, Groveport, Newark - offer median prices below $300K with strong sales activity. High-end suburbs like Bexley have median home prices over $600K, and Bexley was named a Top 10 "Hottest" ZIP code in the U.S. for 2025.

Columbus was ranked #1 in the U.S. for growth + infrastructure in 2025 and #1 in the "Global Groundwork Index" of 2025 by Site Selection Magazine for effectively aligning infrastructure investments with business growth. Approximately 195 companies have chosen to locate or expand in the Columbus Region since 2021, representing $38 billion in capital investments and nearly 28,000 new jobs.

The Columbus metropolitan area is adding around 50-60 people per day, amounting to over 10,000 new residents per year. This increasing population is driving demand for housing and commercial real estate.

In conclusion, the Columbus real estate market is thriving in 2025, with various sectors showing strong growth and promising opportunities for investors. However, affordability remains a concern, particularly in the rental market, where there is a need for more affordable units to keep the city habitable for its workforce.