But there was at least one positive: Home sales.
If you needed or wanted to sell your home, there was no shortage of buyers, many of them willing to pay top dollar.
"It was an amazing year for real estate," said Rich Cosgrove, president of the Stark County Association of Realtors.
MLS Now — an Independence-based listing service which covers 23 Ohio counties including Stark — reported 55,655 properties were sold last year, a 5.3% gain from 52,831 the previous year.
There was a 5.2% increase in home sales in Stark County, as they jumped from 5,301 to 5,577.
Summit County also saw a significant gain in sales with 9,071 sold last year, a 6.1% increase over the 8,550 sold the previous year, according to MLS Now data.