Inventory levels are creeping up
Central Ohio housing inventory continued to increase during the month of July to 5,498, an 8.3% increase over June, although still down 14.1% from July 2016. This left central Ohio with a 2.0 months supply of inventory at the current sales pace, according to the Columbus REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service.
Although inventory is still down overall, the number of homes for sale has increased steadily in the last four months, which is not uncommon as the spring and summer months usually see the highest housing activity. Although slow and steady, the influx in inventory allows potential buyers to have more options to choose from. We are optimistic that more inventory will be added to the market for the rest of the year.
Home prices continue to set records here in central Ohio. The median sales price was $194,900, up 8.9% over July 2016 and the highest on record for any single month. The average sales price of a home in July was $227,572, a 7.3% increase from the same month a year ago and the second highest on record for a single month.
The median is the midpoint where half the homes sell for less, while half sell for more. The average sales price is the total volume divided by the number of homes sold.
There were 3,051 central Ohio homes and condos sold during the month of July, which is 3.9% lower than the same month a year ago and a 10.3% decline over the previous month.
Homes spent an average of 28 days on the market in the month of July, which is six days less than July 2016 and yet another record low for central Ohio.
This is the fewest number of days homes have ever spent on the market. Homes are selling about as fast as they come onto the market HOWEVER, this is an average and numbers vary significantly between locations, price points, etc.
According to the latest Housing Market Confidence Index by the Ohio Association of REALTORS®, 87 percent of central Ohio REALTORS® expect prices to rise over the next year, while 13 percent expect prices to level.
When asked how many days on average their listings stayed on the market, 26 percent said 11-20 days, 29 percent said 21-50 days, and just under half (45 percent) said their listing sold in 10 days or less.
Current housing report – July 2017
All housing reports
