COLUMBUS – The reluctance of central Ohio homeowners to part with their houses has sent prices soaring to record levels while squeezing sales.
The average price of a home sold in in Columbus last month climbed to a record high of $216,379, a 5.4 percent increase over June 2015, according to data released Thursday morning by the Columbus Board of Realtors.The median price of $180,000 was a 4.7 increase.
While the 3,250 central Ohio homes and condos sold in June represented a 5.1 percent increase over May, it was 0.6 percent lower than the year before.
“Our challenge is the low inventory of available homes, which is holding us back from seeing more sales,” added Royer. “In June, the No.1 obstacle to making a purchase, as reported by 40% of buyers on realtor.com, was simply finding a home that met their needs.”
Americans bought more homes in June, the fourth straight monthly gain as the sales rate reached its highest level in more than nine years.
The number of homes added to the market in central Ohio was 5.8 percent higher than May, but down 22.8 percent from June 2015. The number of homes listed for sale in the first half of 2016 is almost unchanged from a year ago.