Inventory declines yet again in February
At the end of February, the number of homes and condos for sale was down to 3,376, which is just slightly (0.1) percent lower than January and 21.2 percent less than February 2017. This marks the 85th consecutive month of year over year declines in inventory and left central Ohio with a 1.2 months supply of inventory at the current sales pace, according to the Columbus REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service.
“The lack of inventory in central Ohio is a major obstacle for home buyers in today’s market,” said 2018 Columbus REALTORS® President Sara Walsh. “If you look at the number of homes sold in the first two months of 2018, it’s clear that buyers need to be prepared to move very quickly!”
The average sale price of a home during the month of February in central Ohio was $210,791, which is 10.4 percent more than the same month a year ago. The median sale price was $177,000, up 9.3 percent from a year ago.
There were 2,373 central Ohio homes and condos listed during the month of February, a 23.1 percent increase over January although 6.5 percent lower than the same month a year ago.
There were 1,681 homes and condos sold during the month of February which is 2.8 percent more than the previous month and 2.9 percent below February 2017.
“It’s encouraging that new listings are on the rise, but we are still in need of more inventory,” Walsh said. “There is no question the number of sales would be much higher if we had more homes and condos available to sell.”
Homes spent an average of 44 days on the market during the month of February, which is unchanged from the previous month.
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 in their area as moderate to strong and 98 percent describe their expectations for the housing market over the next six months as moderate to strong.
When asked about what change they’re seeing in the number of millennials expressing interest in purchasing a home, 71 percent of respondents said they saw a slight to substantial increase in interest, 25 percent said they saw no change in interest and 4.0 percent said they saw a slight decrease in interest.
Current housing report – February 2018
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Columbus REALTORS® is comprised of almost 8,000 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.
To view residential properties for sale, visit a REALTOR® web site.
To view commercial properties for sale or lease, visit www.Crexi.com.