Earlier this month, the Columbus area was ranked the #1 hottest housing market in March by Realtor.com based on home listing activity and days on the market.
Don’t be fooled by this report or by a news release that states home sales were up by 24.7% in March.
Both claims are misleading. Keep reading to find out what’s really going on …
Closed Sales, New Contracts, New Listings – ALL DOWN!
Housing stats usually compare data of a certain period (typically a month) to the same period of a previous year. Home sales increase dramatically in March over February (24.7% as stated above). March is when the buying season starts. We see a huge jump every year.
The best indicators of a hot housing market are:
- Days on Market (DOM) which tells us how long it took to go into contract,
- Ratio between sales price and original list price which indicates if the seller accepted a discount or if the buyer paid more than list price, and
- $ per square foot, a good way to see the price level of certain neighborhoods.
However, home sales have plummeted by 8.7% in March 2019 as compared to March 2018.
This means 206 fewer homes sold.
Pending contracts are down by 4.3%, and new listings are down by 4.8%.
March 2019 Housing Stats
Click this link to see detailed March 2019 Housing Data.
Here are the highlights (numbers compared to the same month a year ago):
- Closed Transactions – 2,175 – DOWN by 8.7%
- Pending Contracts – 3,274 – DOWN by 4.3%
- Inventory for Sale – 3,626 – UP by 4.0%
- New Listings – 3,228 – DOWN by 4.8%
- Days on Market – 42 – UP by 7.7%
- Average Sales Price – $232,169 – UP by 5.6%
Last month, there were one thousand more homes listed for sale compared to February. This is typical for this time of year as we enter what is the Spring Selling Season and what is more telling is the fact that new listings are in fact down year over year. This is in large part due to owner’s concerns about finding a new home and timing their transactions, however, we are also seeing a large number of baby boomers already living in more modest homes electing to renovate their homes and age in place.
Days on market was up in March and in some Central Ohio markets we are starting to see it take longer for homes to sell.
Although the number of Central Ohio homes sold or pending sale was down in March from one year ago, sales were up 24.7% from the previous month and homes that went into contract spiked 32.3% from the month prior which again is expected and yet it is the year or year data that is more telling.
The median sale price of a home in central Ohio sold during the first quarter was $189,900, up 6.1% from one year ago. The average sales price was $221,372, up 3.9% from the first quarter of 2018.
Given Central Ohio’s strong job growth, low-interest rates and strong buyer demand, the market needs more inventory and we’re hoping to see new listings continue to increase as we head into the summer months.
While many homeowners are electing not to list and sell their current homes this out of concern for finding a home to purchase, and timing their transactions we have a solution to this problem and it doesn’t include a costly bridge loan and in fact our solution will likely net you more from the sale of your current home! If you are one of these owners call us today to learn how we can assist you in locating a home to buy before you sell, and possibly a buyer in place to purchase your home once we’ve identified your new home!
Bottom Line
If you’re interested in selling your Central Ohio home we’d encourage you to give us a call so we can show you the market conditions in your neighborhood and help you to get the most exposure and the most money for your home!
