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Howard W. Hanna III thinks employment is major factor in region
By Jim Mackinnon
Beacon Journal business writer
Published on Wednesday, Oct 15, 2008
HUDSON: The jobs market remains critical to the overall health of real estate and the economy of Northeast Ohio, said the chief executive of Howard Hanna Real Estate.
Howard ''Hoddy'' W. Hanna III, who heads the Pittsburgh-based real estate firm, spoke Tuesday at the Hudson public library to Hanna real estate professionals from nearby offices. The company's listings, sales and market share are holding up well in the region, he and others at the gathering said.
But there remains a lot of uncertainty in the national and local economies and how that will affect the real estate market, they said.
''Clearly jobs, . . . it's the overriding factor,'' Hanna said in an interview after the morning event.
Jobs in Northeast Ohio have been down recently, he said.
''I think that's based a lot on the auto industry,'' he said. ''We do have a lot of manufacturing related to the auto industry. Nothing helps an economy like jobs. More jobs, more spendable money.''
The region's housing market has been helped somewhat by avoiding much of the overbuilding that has plagued other parts of the country, particularly Florida, California and Nevada, Hanna said.
But home builders here face other challenges, he said.
The cost to build here is probably 25 percent higher now than four years ago, while prices for existing housing stock have remained flat, Hanna said. That means builders have to find a way to build new housing that will not compete with older but similar structures, he said.
In this area, it might make better sense for home builders to look at putting up new structures aimed at so-called empty-nesters, or adults whose children have moved out, Hanna said.
''You'll see niche markets in new construction doing very, very well, if it's a product mix that was not offered before,'' he said.
Condominium-type homes come to mind for the empty-nesters, he said. There's a strong demand for that kind of housing in suburbs where they haven't had that kind of construction before, he said.
He is telling builders and developers to ''create a product that isn't in competition with the resale,'' Hanna said.
And while banks are tightening their lending standards, there remains plenty of mortgage money for people to borrow at historically low rates, he said.
Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com.
HUDSON: The jobs market remains critical to the overall health of real estate and the economy of Northeast Ohio, said the chief executive of Howard Hanna Real Estate.
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