Homes for sale increasing for central Ohio – September 2014 Market Update

There were 3,035 central Ohio homes and condos listed for sale in September 2014, which is a 6.8 percent jump from September 2013. The additional inventory brought the total number of homes and condos for sale to 9,408, which just trails August 2013 by 2.6 percent, according to Columbus REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service (MLS).

“Traditionally activity starts to slow when kids are back in school and temperatures begin to dip. But last month, we saw more homes listed for sale than we’ve seen in September for the last several years,” Columbus REALTORS® 2014 President Milt Lustnauer said.

“Sellers are getting the message that it’s a terrific time to put their home on the market and sell. This is great news as we still have qualified buyers looking for homes.”

The average sales price of a home in September was $179,306, an increase of 2.5 percent from September 2013, marking the seventh month in a row for record high prices. The average price is the total volume divided by the number of homes sold.

Year to date (January through September 2014), the average sale price of a home in central Ohio is $183,944 – up 5.2 percent from the first nine months of 2013.

There were 2,349 central Ohio homes and condos sold in September 2014, an increase of 1.3 percent from September 2013. However at 20,432, year to date home sales are still trailing 2013 by 4.4 percent.

“Home sales are down because inventory has been down this year,” added Lustnauer. “But with the increase in inventory last month, we’ll likely see a similar increase in sales.”

“This also continues to be a great time to buy a home as there’s more inventory to choose from and interest rates remain at near their lowest this year.”

According to the latest Housing Market Confidence Index (by the Ohio Association of REALTORS®) 89 percent of central Ohio REALTORS® describe the current housing market as moderate to strong and 87 percent expect housing prices to rise over the next year.

Fifty-three percent of central Ohio REALTORS® indicated that the level of interest potential buyers have shown in purchasing their first home has increased. Fifty-nine percent report an increase in multiple offers.