Central Ohio home values continue to rise at sustainable levels – December 2014 Market Update

The average sales price of a home in central Ohio year-to-date is $183,252, which is a 5.2 percent increase over 2013 – and nearly three percent higher than November 2005 during the housing boom.
The average sales price during the month of November was $178,819, a 5.1 percent increase over the previous year.

The average price is the total volume divided by the number of homes sold, according to the Columbus REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service (MLS).

“Central Ohio homeowners should be very pleased that sales prices have continued to increase throughout this year,” said Milt Lustnauer, Columbus REALTORS® 2014 President. “Fortunately sales prices have been rising at a conservative pace so we currently have a sustainable market. During the housing boom, prices weren’t sustainable as the result of rising too quickly.”

There were 1,984 homes and condos listed for sale in November 2014, which is just a slight decrease of 2.9 percent from November 2013. This additional inventory brought the total number of homes and condos for sale to 8,332, which trails the previous month by 6.6 percent.

“It’s not unusual for the inventory to take a dip as the temperature does,” said Lustnauer said. “As the result of inventory being down, sales prices have actually been given a boost. However, when inventory is down, sales are down also.”
There were 1,682 central Ohio homes and condos sold in November 2014, which is a 10.9 percent decrease from November 2013. Year- to-date home and condo sales however just trail 2013 by three percent.

Local housing markets continue to remain active, especially the areas in the school districts of  Columbus, Dublin, Grove City, Hilliard, Olentangy and Westerville. These markets saw the most activity during the month of November among new listings, contracts, and closings.

According to the latest Housing Market Confidence Index (by the Ohio Association of REALTORS®) 80 percent of central Ohio REALTORS® describe the current housing market as moderate to strong  and 93 percent expect housing prices to rise over the next year.

Thirty-seven percent of Ohio REALTORS® indicated that home values in their area were higher than pre-recession levels. Sixty-three percent said home values in their area were at or below pre-recession levels.