Central Ohio Housing Report – April 2014

5/22/2014

Prices up; inventory low

The median sale price of a home in April 2014 was $150,750 which was 9.3 percent higher than the previous year, and also up 5.0 percent from the previous month. The average sale price was $176,231, which was up 7.7 percent from last year, and up 2.4 percent from March according to the Columbus REALTORS® Multiple Listing System (MLS). The average price is the total volume divided by the number of homes sold. The median is the midpoint — half the homes sell for less, while half sell for more.

“Sales prices have consistently been up for the last few months, fortunately for sellers,” said Milt Lustnauer, 2014 president of Columbus REALTORS®. “If you’re considering listing your home, right now is a great time to do it. There are still more buyers than sellers in the central Ohio market and sales prices continue to increase.”

There were 2,195 central Ohio homes sold in April of 2014, 12.5 percent lower than April 2013, but up 22.2 percent from the previous month.

There were 3,706 central Ohio homes and condos listed for sale in April 2014. Although down 7.1 percent from inventory one year ago, this is up 8.1 percent from the 3,428 added the previous month.

With an inventory level of 8,439, the number of homes on the market is 12.7 percent lower than April 2013.

“Inventory in central Ohio is unfortunately still below what we expected it to be, particularly since there are a significant number of motivated buyers,” Lustnauer said. “However, as temperatures rise, the number of homes coming on the market are  increasing as well.”

According to the latest Housing Market Confidence Index (by the Ohio Association of REALTORS®) 95 percent of central Ohio REALTORS® describe the current housing market as moderate to strong 95 percent expect home prices to increase over the next year.

Although mortgage interest rates have risen slightly and are expected to continue increasing throughout the year, 39 percent of respondents think that home sales will increase regardless of higher interest rates.

Additionally, 34 percent are seeing higher than normal early spring activity.

Current housing report – April 2014
All housing reports

Columbus REALTORS® is comprised of over 6,000 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.