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Clark County real estate agents and local leaders said they weren’t surprised by the results.
“This has been one of the most popular areas,” said Lisa Smedley, president of the Springfield Board of Realtors. “People love the school district and they live there forever.”
The Northridge development started around the 1950s and has long been home to many families who work at Navistar, one of the region’s largest employers, Moorefield Twp. Trustee Joseph Mosier said. Mosier has spent most of his life in the neighborhood and said he also wasn’t surprised by the ranking.
Other areas ranked in the Ohio top 10 are all cities, including Beavercreek and Oxford in Southwest Ohio, and Hilliard and Westerville in central Ohio. The statistics were based on information pulled from Zillow.com and the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2015 American Community Survey, Singh said.
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Northridge scored high on several factors that led to the ranking, Singh said. Homes for sale in the subdivision are typically on the market for 32.9 days, she said, much shorter than the 171-day average statewide and 170 days nationally.
Home owners in the subdivision also spend about 16 percent of their monthly income on housing costs, she said, compared to about 20 percent in Ohio and nationally. The ranking also included the number of years residents remained in their homes and the percentage of home owners with negative equity.
“That seemed to be a trend across all categories,” Singh said. “Northridge outperformed both the national and Ohio averages across each category we looked at.”
Residents like Joyce Adams said it’s nice for the area to receive recognition.
“I just like the area,” Adams said. “It’s convenient, we have a grocery store, a new coffee shop that just opened up. We have a little restaurant down here that has pizza and a few other things.”
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Although it’s the third year SmartAsset has ranked communities, it’s the first time Northridge was included. That’s likely because the data used wasn’t available for Northridge in previous years, Singh said.
Mosier credited the proximity to areas like Navistar that have contributed to the development’s stability.
“I would say that’s been a big part of it, as far as good employment and people earning a decent wage,” Mosier said. “And once people buy a house they keep it up instead of letting things deteriorate.”
Residents in the township also typically support levies when needed, he said, which allows the township to maintain roads and other public services. Mosier said Moorefield Twp. in general is a good place to live.
Northridge also has several amenities nearby for residents, including a bowling alley, a pizza shop, a grocery and good schools, Smedley said. Most of the homes in the neighborhood were built in a style that are popular with buyers, including hardwood floors and basements.
The neighborhood remains popular for homebuyers, she said, and houses typically sell quickly provided they’re priced accurately.
“I didn’t know it was quite that strong but I’m very pleased because in our opinion here it’s always been that strong.” Smedley said of the ranking.
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By the numbers:
32.9 — Average days on market for Northridge home sales
171 — Ohio average days on market for home sales
169.6 — National average days on market for home sales
Source: SmartAsset
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