January Central Ohio Home Sales Highest Since 2007

Central Ohio Housing Report - Jan. 2013

Posted: 2/21/2013

Columbus Board of REALTORS®

January home sales highest since 2007

Central Ohio home sales during the first month of 2013 were the highest for January since 2007 just before the housing market began to feel the effects of the economic recession. The 1,374 closings exceeds the previous year by 20.4 percent (1,141) according to the Columbus Board of REALTORS®.

“Housing activity was up abnormally high during the traditionally slower months at the end of the year,” said Chris Pedon, President of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. “So we’re not surprised to see such a jump in closings last month.”

Home prices hit their lowest in several years during the recession but are well on their way back. The average sale price of a home sold in central Ohio in 2012 was $167,459, which is 7.2 percent higher than in 2011.The average sales price ($149,477) jumped 5.1 percent from January of 2011 and the median sales price ($129,000) was up 5.3 percent.

New listings as added to the market in January totaled 2,578, which is down 6.0 percent from last year. The number of homes for sale in central Ohio is down to 8,935 – the lowest since summer of 2002.

“We’ve watched inventory dwindle steadily over the last year as demand continued to grow,” added Pedon. “Homeowners that have been waiting to move up, or tried to sell their home a few years ago, should seriously consider listing their home. It’s a whole new game out there today.”

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 as moderate to strong and 100 percent expect the housing market to be moderate to strong over the next six months. As for home prices, 91 percent expect home prices to remain the same or rise in the next year.

View the current Central Ohio Local Market Update.
View the current Housing market report by area.

The Columbus Board of 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.

The monthly housing reports can be found at www.ColumbusRealtors.com/stats. The reports include breakouts for 18 central Ohio counties and 52 local municipalities and school districts.

For more information about the central Ohio housing market, visit www.ColumbusRealtors.com/stats. 
To view commercial properties for sale or lease in central Ohio, visit www.COCIE.org.
To view residential properties for sale, visit www.terrypenrod.com

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What’s the Best Day of Week and Month to List Your Home For Sale?

The story is here

Friday is the best day of the week to sell a home. Homes listed on Friday sell for 99.1 percent of their original asking price, a higher percentage than homes listed on any other day of the week, according to a study by real estate broker Redfin, which analyzed more than 500,000 home listings and sales records.

The best month to sell? April, according to the analysis. Homes sold in April tended to sell closer to their asking price. In April, homes were found to sell for a 99.2 percent sale price-to-list ratio, compared to a 97.3 percent ratio of homes listed in December.

Springtime is still a good time to sell for a higher price and also in the fastest time too, according to the study. Homes tended to sell within 90 days of being listed during March through June, according to the study. 

Redfin also found that pricing the home competitively from its debut is critical because that’s when it’ll receive the most traffic. During the first week a listing debuts on the market, it receives nearly four times more visits on real estate Web sites than it will a month later.

Source: Redfin

Business First: Ohio State set to create east-side version of Campus Partners to boost hospital neighborhood

Ohio State set to create east-side version of Campus Partners to boost hospital neighborhood

Ohio State University trustees Friday will be asked to approve the creation of an affiliated nonprofit that would make good on the university’s 2010 promise to spend $10 million on neighborhood improvements in Columbus' near east side region surrounding University Hospital East.

The entity, to be called PACT for Partners Achieving Community Transformation, would be similar to Campus Partners for Community Urban Redevelopment, the university’s affiliate that developed and manages the South Campus Gateway and is spurring housing revitalization in the Weinland Park neighborhood near the main campus. The city and the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority are partners in PACT and provide money toward the administrative budget.

More of the story can be found here