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Valley Real Estate Agents See Resurgence in Demand
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Among the indicators of a resurgent market for residential real estate Sandi Bates can cite is the increase in membership of the organizations she heads, the Youngstown Columbiana Association of Realtors
Bates, serving as its president this year, notes many agents left the field, casualties of the market bust a few years ago.
“We lost a lot of agents within the last couple of years,” she reflects. More individuals have returned to the field and membership is again above 500.
An improved market for residential sales has been reported nationally for several months, and Mahoning Valley Realtors and real estate agents say they see an improved market as well.
Bates, a real estate agent with Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, reports that houses listed have been selling sell more quickly so fewer are available. Buyers also are more realistic when they submit their bids because of the smaller inventory.
“People are more confident in going out and looking for a home now,” she says. That confidence is driven by developments such as the recent groundbreaking for the Hollywood at Mahoning Valley Race Course in Austintown, the opening of the Exterran plant in Youngstown, and rail and bridge work at the Ohio Commerce Center in Lordstown, funded by a $2 million Job Ready Sites grant.
“We have a lot of shale activity and when people hear this, they are more confident about purchasing a home because the home is going to be worth the same amount of money or more,” she continues.
Bates’ counterpart in Trumbull County agrees that the real estate market is rebounding. “It’s not 100% but it’s going in the right direction,” says Marlin Palich, president of the Warren Area Board of Realtors and general manager of Northwood of Ohio. Where properties once remained on the market two years, four months has become the norm, he says.
“The inventory is low so that when a home comes on the market there is a lot of interest. So we’re seeing multiple offers,” he says, “and that’s a good thing.” One house that sold for more than $1 million received three offers. If a homeowner is considering selling his house, “now is a good time,” he says.
Palich points to several factors encouraging the market, including the oil and gas industry, increased certainty in employment and people’s desire to own a home. “It’s the American dream and now they’re ready to do it,” he says.
Historically low mortgage rates are also encouraging buyers. The mortgage interest rate was 21% in the early 1980s, Palich recalls – if a buyer could get one. “You can buy a lot more house at 3 7/8%,” he remarks. He also notes that pricing for housing is “reasonable” in the Mahoning Valley market.
This year has seen a “good turnaround” in the market, says Debbie Skorich, real estate agent with Pat Gallagher Realty, Columbiana, which represents Firestone Farms. “A lot of people are looking at lots and asking about villas and town homes,” with one property under contract, she says.
“It looks like there’s a turnaround out here,” she continues. “Now that there’s a new developer out here, he’s making a lot of headway.” A new single-family spec house is being developed for people to look at, and a parklike area is being added next to the parking area. Some 35 lots are available, she says.
Skorich attributes the improved market to two factors. “The presidential election is over. Everybody was concerned about that,” she says. “More jobs are coming into the area. Banks aren’t as restrictive as they were two years ago and that makes a big difference.”
Marisa Volpini, broker and manager of Real Living Volpini Realty Group, reports sales volume so far this year is up about a third over the first half of 2012. Real Living Volpini, which has offices in Boardman, Poland and Howland, is a brokerage member of Real Living Real Estate, a network brand of the HSF Affiliates LLC. HSF is a joint venture formed late last year by Brookfield Asset Management and HomeServices of American Inc., an affiliate of Berkshire Hathaway.
If they’re priced well, clean and ready to move into, houses sell as soon as they’re listed, Volpini says. She recently sold a property, which received two offers within a week, at full price. Market demand also makes it difficult to find rental properties.
“Confidence is back,” she remarks. “Everybody has been waiting to hear good news.” The stock market is doing well and people are excited about the influx of jobs and money from the shale industry.
“We see some uptick but there’s still a lot of inventory,” counters J. Paul Basinger, broker/owner at American Real Estate Specialists Ltd., North Lima. While the Youngstown-Warren area is reported to have some of the most affordable housing in the nation, that also means it’s some of the lowest-priced housing around, he says.
Basinger says he doesn’t see “the big resurgence” in the overall market that is being hyped in the national media. “There is in the upper end, $500,000-plus,” he says. “These people still have money and they’re buying. He points to a $1.3 million property on which a bank is foreclosing that is being sold for $850,000.
An influx of money from the shale play has helped, he acknowledges, and the impact from the Austintown track remains to be seen. “Some real estate values around that major event are going up but residential values are not improving in equal fashion because of the potential for additional traffic, crime, whatever,” he says.
First published in the MidJune edition of The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.