Housing activity strong in the 1st quarter

Central Ohio home sale activity showed healthy increases during the first quarter of 2013. Residential home sales (4,844) were up 17.6 percent over the previous year (4,119) and the number of pending sales (3,245) were up 19.3 percent from the first three months of 2013 according to the Columbus Board of REALTORS®.

“Thus far, 2013 has been a flurry of activity from the get go,” said Chris Pedon, President of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. “The rather mild winter weather offered eager buyers an opportunity to get a jump on finding their first – or next home – early in the year.”

The median sales price of a home sold in central Ohio in March 2013 was $135,000, up 4.9 percent compared to last year ($128,650). The average sale price of $160,233 during March was also up 4.9 percent from one year ago.

There were 3,484 new homes put on the market last month, up slightly from the 3,458 listings added to the inventory last year during March. There are now almost 9,000 homes for sale in the central Ohio area, up slightly (0.5 percent) from last year, but still the lowest level of inventory since 2002.

“We’re getting a lot of interest from current homeowners who’ve been paying attention to what’s been happening with housing recently,” added Pedon. “Low interest rates, strong demand and improved sale prices make a compelling argument for selling a home right now. Whether homeowners want to move up or out, they should seriously consider the benefits of the current housing market.”

According to the latest Housing Market Confidence Index (by the Ohio Association of REALTORS®), 96 percent of central Ohio REALTORS® describe the current housing market as moderate to strong and 100 percent expect the housing market to be moderate to strong over the next six months. As for home prices, 94 percent expect home prices to remain the same or rise in the next year and 96 percent are seeing residential appraisals in central Ohio about the same or somewhat higher.

View the current Central Ohio Local Market Update.     View the current Housing market report by area.          The Columbus Board of 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.