COLUMBUS – The Columbus residential real estate market heated up right along with the temperatures in August, as 3,116 homes were sold, the most ever recorded for the month of August, according to data released Thursday.
The number of sales was 4.8 higher than 2015 and a 1.5 percent increase over July, according to a monthly report from the Columbus Board of Realtors.
The brisk sales came despite a continued supply squeeze as the number of homes for sale was down by more than 20 percent compared with last August. The number added to the market was 2.6 fewer than one year ago and a 12.3 percent decrease from July as the busy summer season wound down with the approach of the new school year.
The sales increase was the opposite of a national trend, which saw the second straight monthly decline in sales of existing homes due to the worsening inventory shortage, which appears to be pushing prices higher, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The number of homes on the market nationwide has plunged 10.1 percent from a year ago while the median home sales price increased 5.1 percent to $240,200.
In central Ohio, the inventory was 21 percent lower than a year ago and the median price of $174,000 was up 5.5 percent from one year ago.
Nearly all (92 percent) of the central Ohio realtors said the biggest hindrance to buyers finding a home so far this year was the ow inventory of homes for sale.