Home sales breaking records in Columbus region

Posted on by Jim Reitano

Central Ohio Housing Report – July 2013colsrealtors

8/21/2013

Home sales breaking records in Columbus region

Central Ohio home sales are breaking the records this summer. Year to date sales (15,988) are 24.2 percent ahead of last year and the highest for the first seven months of any year recorded by Columbus REALTORS®.

Last month’s 2,825 homes sales were the highest on record for the month of July – and the third highest month on record just slightly behind August 2005 (2,875) and June 2006 (2,872).

The 3,515 homes put in contract last month (18.0 percent higher than last year) would suggest that the high sales trend is continuing.

“Pent up demand is fueling the country and Central Ohio is no exception,” said Chris Pedon, 2013 president of Columbus REALTORS®. “Prior to this year, the highest number of home sales we’ve seen in Central Ohio seven months into the year, was in 2005 during the height of the housing boom when we had 15,654 closings by the end of July.”

The median sale price of a home (January through July 2013) in the Columbus Region is $145,000 – up 4.4 percent from a year ago.

July saw 3,665 residential homes listed for sale, down seven percent from June, but up 16.6 percent from July of 2012.

“The demand is there,” adds Pedon. “Even though home prices and mortgage interest rates have both risen this summer, mortgage payments are still less than rent in most cases. Even new college graduates with school loans are opting to own a home versus renting. They get the added benefit of being a homeowner and accruing equity while their lower monthly housing costs allow them to pay on their school loans.”

School districts experiencing the highest home sales during July included Columbus, Olentangy, Hilliard, South-Western (Grove City), Westerville, Dublin, Worthington, Upper Arlington and Gahanna Jefferson. These same districts, as well as Pickerington, also saw the highest number of homes put on the market last month.

According to the latest Housing Market Confidence Index (by the Ohio Association of REALTORS®), 100 percent of central Ohio REALTORS® describe the current housing market as moderate to strong and 93 percent expect home prices to increase in the next year.

Columbus REALTORS® is comprised of over 5,800 real estate professionals engaged in residential sales and leasing, commercial sales and leasing, property management, appraisal, consultation, real estate syndication, land development and more.

The Columbus REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service (MLS) serves all of Franklin, Delaware, Fayette, Licking, Madison, Morrow, Pickaway and Union Counties and parts of Athens, Champaign, Clark, Clinton, Fairfield, Hocking, Knox, Logan, Marion, Muskingum, Perry and Ross Counties.

The monthly housing reports can be found at www.ColumbusRealtors.com/stats. The reports include breakouts for 18 central Ohio counties and 53 local municipalities and school districts. Buckeye Valley Schools was added to the reports in February 2013.

For more information about the central Ohio housing market, visit www.ColumbusRealtors.com/stats.

To view commercial properties for sale or lease in central Ohio, visit www.COCIE.org.
To view residential properties for sale, visit www.Realtor.com.