Returning Jobs Impact on Dayton OH Real Estate
Jobs and unemployment play a huge role in the real estate industry, and a personal frustration of mine for years has been all the employment opportunities big companies ship overseas. Along with student loan debt, a crucial equation Realtors and mortgage lenders track is unemployment vs. interest rates and we all hope to not see them rise together. So far, so good.
Among other positive indicators is an industry employing nearly 10,000 locally in the Dayton-Springfield area is expected to grow by nearly 40 over the next eight years as companies continue to bring jobs back to the U.S. from other countries.
Call centers are now joining the latest companies beginning to reshore jobs back to the U.S. and expected to grow 38 by 2022, nearly three times the projected 13 average of other occupations per the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Dayton Ohio Real Estate - Poised for Growth
Many buyers are dual income households, and while call center employment ranges from $10-$17 with an average weekly pay of $550 might be below the average of $819 for other occupations, this helps place many families in a better position to buy, and dual income home owners are more likely to update and improve current properties. Per Mary Hohenberger, Dayton Development Coalitions vice president of economic development, these jobs are often a springboard to better sales and service positions with technical centers typically paying higher average wages.
I believe the Dayton area is perfect for this type of industry for its low cost of living and cost of doing business compared to other regions in the country, yet still positioned in a metropolitan area with a great work force eager for opportunities.
I think this news is also significant regarding how student loan debt has impacted home buying activity, with so many would be buyers hesitating or unable to buy a home for carrying large student loan debt, and choosing to rent. Jobs like these often require no special (or expensive) degree, are more obtainable, and with call center experience its relatively easy to move from one company to another if strategically appealing. Todays younger call center employees are tomorrows home-buyers.
I posted a while back about Dayton and Cincinnati politicians working together to increase immigration appeal, strategizing to bring in more innovation, money and business and the creation of more jobs, and my personal gripe is to not send those jobs back overseas, so I find this news very encouraging.
Dayton - Cincinnati: Immigration / Video
My colleague Juanita Limes, a 20 year real estate veteran in the Greater Dayton area posted some insightful thoughts on Daytons economy and call centers arent the only industry in the Buckeye that are growing and expanding. Large Defense Department Contracts and other welcome activity she highlighted are also positive signs, however, I agree with Juanita that were not out of the woods yet. If Dayton and Cincinnati realize their goal of winning a highly coveted manufacturing designation, we could see a super boost in jobs, including peripheral employment and a stronger, more lasting positive impact on the real estate industry in southwest Ohio.
Dayton Real Estate - Mixed Signal Economy
Sources - Dayton Daily News