One of the best-known real estate showcases in Central Ohio has been canceled.
The Parade of Homes was supposed to be held in a new Grove City housing development this summer. Instead, the Building Industry Association of Central Ohio scrapped the 2020 event with plans to reformat next year.
"As the region continues to evolve and change and consumer preferences do, we realized we needed to take some time to make sure that the event met the need of those consumers, and our builders," says Jon Melchi, executive director of the group.
Melchi says plans for 2021 are not set in stone, but it could feature new locations (the Parade has been held in Union and Delaware counties for the last decade), a wider range of houses, or different types of neighborhoods, like condo-heavy areas.
"To touch all the different sides and communities of Central Ohio, we're a growing community, we have builders that have built in certain parts of Central Ohio, and we want to make sure we're highlighting everyone," Melchi says.
Only three of the 14 homes in last year's parade in Lewis Center have sold, which Melchi attributes to longer sale times for houses at high price points.
"They have always sold and we don't envision that being a problem with the homes that were in the parade in 2019," he says.
As for the rest of the real estate market, which remains hot in Central Ohio, Melchi says his organization is part of the solution.
"We're underbuilding the market by 8,000 homes a year, and when you compound that shortage over time, it causes prices to increase," he says. "We have a supply problem in Central Ohio."
