COLUMBUS, Ohio – A continued reticence on the part of would-be home sellers resulted in modest gains in sales in Columbus and the rest of Ohio in September, according to data released Tuesday by the regional and statewide realtors’ organizations.
Home sales in central Ohio in September increased 1.3 percent from last year, but sales through the first three quarters of the year are lagging 4.4 percent behind the pace in 2013, according to the Columbus Board of Realtors.
September in Ohio increased increased 2.8 percent from August but only 0.3 percent from the same time a year ago. Nevertheless, they hit their highest level for September since 2006, according to the Ohio Association of Realtors.
“Home sales are down because inventory has been down this year. But with the increase in inventory last month, we’ll likely see a similar increase in sales,” board president Milt Lustnauer said.
The 3,035 central Ohio homes and condos listed for sale in September was a 6.8 percent jump from September but a 22.8 percent decline from the number of new listings in May. Lustnauer says the additional inventory brought the total number of homes and condos for sale to 9,408, which just trails August 2013 by 2.6 percent.
The tight inventory has also been pushing sale prices higher. The median sale price in Columbus during the first nine months of 2014 was $154,000, 5.5 percent higher than the same period in 2013.
Fewer houses on the market has also meant quick sales: The average home spent 56 days on the market, 22 percent fewer than a year ago and a veritable blink of an eye compared with the 90-plus days buyers were waiting to close in the depths of the recession.