Worthington's Tight Market Has a Zoning Story Behind It. Here's What That Means for Buyers

In August 2026, homes in the City of Worthington sold for an average of 103.2% of their last list price. Across the whole Columbus REALTORS® MLS region, sellers received 96.9% of their original asking price. That gap is the gap a buyer feels when writing an offer, and it comes mostly from how few new homes Worthington adds.

None of the projects that could add meaningful new housing in Worthington can deliver before late 2027 at the earliest. One approved apartment plan now faces a referendum aimed at the November 2027 ballot. A larger mixed-use plan with condos has been tabled since July. The site that has drawn the most attention has been undeveloped for more than a decade. For anyone planning a purchase in the next 12 months, the competition will be for existing homes.

What the offer table looks like right now

Here are the August 2026 figures from Columbus REALTORS®, released September 15, 2026.

The most useful line for a buyer is in the city report and isn't shown in the table above. In August 2026, Worthington sellers received 100.7% of their original list price and 103.2% of their last list price. When the last-price figure is higher than the original-price figure, homes that had their prices adjusted still closed above the adjusted price on average. In that situation, a price reduction is often a reset to attract more offers. It shouldn't be read as a seller ready to take less.

Resale supply isn't growing to ease the pressure. Through August 2026, the city recorded 135 new listings, compared with 134 over the same stretch of 2025. The year-to-date median sale price held at $500,000 in both years. Inventory rose to 16 homes from 13 a year earlier. That is a 23% increase, but on a base small enough that three listings make up the whole change.

Condos are taking a larger share of sales

Attached homes are where the school-district numbers move most. Through August 2026, the Worthington City School District recorded 123 condo sales, up from 92 a year earlier. Single-family sales rose from 300 to 351 over the same period. Both are up, but condo sales grew about twice as fast. In August alone, the district closed 22 condo sales, compared with 14 in August 2025.

This matters because condos are the housing type that new construction would add most directly. The pending proposals are the clearest picture of what could change that supply, and when.

The pipeline, project by project

The proposals below are listed in order of how close each one is to adding homes.

1. I Am Boundless site, 445 E. Dublin-Granville Road. Elford Development plans 246 apartments on about 20 acres of the nonprofit's campus. The planned mix is 12 studios, 136 one-bedrooms, 64 two-bedrooms, 24 larger units and 10 carriage units. The Municipal Planning Commission recommended the rezoning 4–1 on June 25, and City Council approved it unanimously on July 20, according to the Worthington Spotlight. Under the plan, 74 units would be set aside for households earning up to 80% of area median income for 10 years. The Dispatch's July report gave the count as 248 units. Later coverage uses 246.
2. The referendum. In September, a group called Democracy Before Developers submitted 3,976 signatures to the city seeking a public vote on the rezoning, according to the Columbus Dispatch. WOSU reported on October 1 that the group expects to learn by mid-October whether enough signatures are valid, and that the measure is aimed at the November 2027 ballot.
3. Officescape Corporate Center, 400, 450 and 500 W. Wilson Bridge Road. Crawford Hoying, the developer of Dublin's Bridge Park, applied to rezone about 17.6 acres of office buildings from the 1970s. The plan calls for roughly 250 apartments, eight townhomes, 182 condominiums and 150 senior living units, plus hotel, office and retail space. NBC4 reported that the Municipal Planning Commission tabled the preliminary plan on July 9 while it waits for a traffic study. The item doesn't appear on the commission's September 24 or October 8 agendas, and we could not confirm any vote since July.
4. Former United Methodist Children's Home, 1033 High Street. In January 2026, the Sixth Circuit affirmed judgment for the city in Lifestyle Communities' challenge to Worthington's refusal to rezone the site. Our research found no new residential proposal for it since then.
5. The Shops at Worthington Place. Columbus Business First reported in late September that the center is listed for $25 million, which puts its long-planned redevelopment in question. No current residential plan is attached to the listing.

Of the projects on that list, only Officescape includes for-sale condos, and it has the longest path ahead of it. The approved project is all rentals and is on hold until the referendum is settled. That leaves current owners and their resale homes as the only near-term source of condos.

Why one referendum reaches past one site

Worthington set up a tool designed to make projects like Elford's work. On December 8, 2025, City Council adopted a Workforce Housing Tax Abatement Program for new mixed-use multifamily construction, both rental and for-sale. It requires at least 20% of units to meet area median income targets, and standard abatement terms run 10 years. According to WOSU, Elford sought a 10-year, 75% abatement under that program.

The council that approved it also reflects a change. WOSU reported that four council members elected in 2025 campaigned on increasing development. Annina Parini, president and CEO of the Worthington Chamber of Commerce, described the previous decade as "deadlocked." Democracy Before Developers has said it is not against developing the property and that its objection is to the planned density.

Parini's concern centers on what developers take away from the petition:

"Every developer considering Worthington will get the message that any decision, no matter how thoroughly vetted, can be relitigated by petition."

Reasonable people in Worthington disagree about density, and the referendum is a legitimate part of the process. For housing supply, the practical effect is time. A rezoning that passed in July 2026 may not be settled until November 2027. Construction would come after that, and other developers will factor that timeline into whether they bring proposals to the city.

How this changes an offer plan

These figures point to a few practical adjustments for buyers comparing Worthington with nearby suburbs.

• Look at the last-price-received figure, not just the asking price. A 103.2% average in August 2026 means a reduced listing price was often just where bidding started.
• Expect less room to negotiate here than in other Columbus suburbs. With 1.1 months of supply in the city and 2.4 regionwide, terms that work elsewhere in Central Ohio may not compete in Worthington.
• Count on resale condos as the attached-home option. Until a for-sale project clears review and gets built, the growing condo market in the school district is the existing stock changing hands.
• Look at the school district as well as the city boundary. The district covers more ground. It had 77 homes for sale in August 2026 against the city's 16, and the median price was lower.
• Track two dates. These are the mid-October signature ruling on the Boundless petition and any return of the Wilson Bridge Road plan to a Planning Commission agenda.

Quick answers

Will new construction ease Worthington prices soon? Based on the current pipeline, not before late 2027. The approved project may go to voters in November 2027, and the plan that includes condos is still under review.

Is the Boundless apartment project canceled? No. Council approved the rezoning on July 20, 2026. A referendum petition is pending validation, and if it qualifies, voters would decide whether to uphold or reverse that approval.

Which month do these figures cover? August 2026, from the Columbus REALTORS® release published September 15, 2026.

If you're weighing a Worthington offer or listing before any of these projects is settled, Hart Property Advisors can put your specific street and property type against the latest monthly data, so your price reflects what the August numbers show. Start with a Free Home Valuation.