COLUMBUS, Ohio – It was a very good year for realtors and home sellers in Columbus and the rest of Ohio as the residential real estate market appeared to regain much of its pre-recession vitality.
Central Ohio home sales last year were the highest on record since the peak of the housing boom in 2005, according to data released Thursday by the Columbus Board of Realtors. Statewide sales were the highest since 2007, according to the Ohio Association of Realtors.
The year’s sales in central Ohio were 17.1 percent higher than 2012 and the state as a whole saw an increase of 14.7 percent.
A lower inventory of homes on the market also pushed prices upward: 4.2 percent in the Columbus area and 5.2 percent statewide. The average sale price of a Columbus home in 2013 was $174,336, compared with $167,229 the year before. The statewide average sale price was $142,004.
Ohio sales in the fourth quarter of 2013 increased 6.7 percent, the 10th consecutive quarter of year-over-year gains. December’s sales outpaced those of the previous year for the the 30th consecutive month.