Columbus and Central Ohio February 2012 Residential Homes Sales Report

Follow

Slow steady improvement was the name of the game in Columbus and Central Ohio for February 2012 residential real estate as 1,215 sales closed last month, which is a 5% increase over February 2011. Better yet is that the average sales price of $151,072 was 7.3% higher than same month last year.

In addition, contracts for residential homes and condos jumped 21.7 percent over the previous month and were 57.4 percent higher than the same time last year.  Remember though, due to continuing appraisal difficulties and stringent lender requirements and scrutiny, there will be considerable fallout from these in contract numbers so while there will be an increase in closings, it will be no way near 57%.

The unsold inventory of homes continues to decline slowly. There are now just over 11,000 homes for sale in central Ohio, almost 30 percent less than in February of 2011.  That’s 6.3 months of inventory, which is just about perfect for a balanced market

“According to the most recent Ohio Housing Market Confidence Survey, 88 percent of central Ohio REALTORS® expect a moderate to strong housing market in the next six months and 84 percent expect home prices to remain the same or rise 0-5 percent,” adds Coridan. “As list prices have strengthened over the past year and demand is healthier, I’d have to agree.”

Columbus and Central Ohio Sortable Report by City

http://www.10kresearch.com/sortable/Columbus-OH/2012-02/main.htm

Columbus and Central Ohio MLS Market Report

http://www.10kresearch.com/sortable/Columbus-OH/2012-02/Entire-MLS.pdf