Here are Central Ohio's hottest housing markets

What do Granville, Dublin and Plain City have in common? They’re among the hottest housing markets in Central Ohio, according to new research.

The Business Journals conducted an analysis of home values in ZIP codes across the United States. The analysis relied on a weighted formula to identify and index markets with the strongest — and weakest — pricing momentum through June 30. All ZIP codes had at least 5,000 residents and a base median home value of $250,000 as of 2018, the first year of data used in this analysis.

Home values just about everywhere shot up in the wake of the pandemic as Americans moved en masse from larger, more expensive metro areas to smaller, more affordable ones, and from cities to suburbs. Though the housing market has cooled over the past year due to rising mortgage rates and economic uncertainty, home values remain much higher than they were before the pandemic.

Among nearly 25 of Central Ohio’s top ZIP codes included in the index, all but one — 43021 (Galena) — had median home values below $400,000 in 2018.

Now, only nine have median values below $400,000.

Check out the slideshow with this story to see the 20 hottest housing markets in Central Ohio according to the index.

Two of the top five Central Ohio ZIP codes in the index are in Delaware County: 43074 (Sunbury) and 43061 (Ostrander). Rounding at the top five are one each in Licking County (Granville), Franklin County (Dublin) and Union County (Plain City). The top three ZIP codes saw median home value grow by more than 50% since 2018:

Home values in Dublin’s 43017 ZIP code jumped 45%, from $373,205 to $541,694. In Plain City’s 43064 ZIP code, home values are up 48%, from $333,727 to $494,932.

Franklin County dominated the rest of the top 10, with another ZIP code in Dublin (43016), New Albany (43054), Upper Arlington (43221) and Bexley (43209) rounding out the list. A lone ZIP code in Carroll (43112) in Fairfield County also made the top 10.

In Central Ohio’s urban core, growth has been slower. Four of the bottom five ZIP codes in the index are all within the city of Columbus. Values have been rising in each, but all have grown 33% or less over the past five years. Columbus’ 43215 ZIP code was the biggest outlier, growing just 2%. No other ZIP code on the list was below 23%.