An increase in pending home sales drops inventory further

Central Ohio saw 2,473 homes go into contract during the month of January, up 24.5 percent from the previous month, and 4.4 percent higher than a year ago. There were 2,170 central Ohio homes and condos added to the market in January. Although this was 47.8 percent more than the previous month, it was 2.2 percent lower than January 2016, leaving the inventory at 4,329 according to the Columbus REALTORS Multiple Listing Service.

“Just when we thought inventory couldn’t get any lower, it did,” said 2017 Columbus REALTORS® President Mic Gordon. “The increase in new listings wasn’t enough to offset the high number of homes that went into contract, bringing the number of homes left for sale to a new record low.”

There were 1,594 central Ohio homes and condos sold during the month of January, a 1.3 percent increase from January 2016, although down 29.2 percent from December.

The averages sale price of a home in January was $195,773, up 6.6 percent from one year ago. The median sales price was $160,800, a 5.1 percent increase over January 2016.

“Month after month, we’re seeing new records set for the central Ohio housing market,” Gordon said. “As long as inventory remains at record lows and demand remains strong, prices will continue to rise.”

During the month of January, central Ohio homes and condos spent an average of 50 days on the market, which is the lowest on record for the month. This is 10 days less than a year ago, but five days more than the previous month.

According to the latest Housing Market Confidence Index by the Ohio Association of REALTORS®, 98 percent of central Ohio REALTORS® would describe the current housing market as moderate to strong and 96 percent expect home prices to increase over the next year.

When asked what change they are seeing in the level of interest renters are expressing toward buying a home compared to last year, 65 percent said a substantial to slight increase in interest, 31 percent said no change and 4 percent said a substantial to slight decrease in interest.