Sales of Houses Up Across Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The number of houses sold across Ohio increased 18.9% in September as the market posted year-over-year gains in activity for the 27th consecutive month, the Ohio Association of Realtors announced Monday.
Sales in the 17-county region that includes Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties rose 18.1%.
“The Ohio housing market has taken another step forward in its continuing effort to overcome the economic challenges that shook the very foundation of the American Dream a few years ago,” said Thomas J. Williams, president of the Ohio Association of Realtors, and a realtor with Northwood Realty in Austintown. “The fact that we now posted 27 straight months of year-over-year sales gains – our longest stretch of uninterrupted in 16 years of tracking Ohio’s sales activity -- is a good indication that we’re making progress in building a sustainable, growing marketplace.”
Statewide sales through the first nine months of 2013 reached 99,585, a 17.7% increase over the same period a year ago. The average sale price (January through September) is $143,462, a 5.8% increase from a year ago. Total dollar volume this year is nearly $14.3 billion, a 24.5% increase.
Sales in September reached 11,269, an 18.9% increase from a year ago. The September sales total is the month’s best mark since 2006. The average sales price of $140,986 is a 2% increase from the average price posted a year ago.
The 3,534 units sold in the Northeast Ohio Real Estate Exchange, which includes the three local counties, is up 15.1%. The dollar volume of $478.115 million is up 18.1% and average sale price of $135,290 is up 2.6%.
From January through September, 30,975 units were sold, representing a 13.8% increase. The dollar volume of $4.266 billion is up 22.4%, and average sale price of $137,730 is up 7.6%.
Statewide, house sales during the third quarter reached their highest level of the year and best quarterly mark since the second quarter of 2007, the report found. Sales activity in the third quarter reached 38,273, a 20.8% increase from the same three months a year ago when the market recorded 31,682 closings.
The average sales price in third quarter is $149,580, 4.3% ahead of the same quarter a year ago and the highest average sales price since third-quarter 2007.
Figures encompass residential closings for new and existing single-family houses and condominiums/co-ops.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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