CENTRAL OHIO REAL ESTATE MARKET NEWS

Central Ohio Housing Report - November 2013

• Posted: 12/19/2013
• Categories: Home Sales News Releases, Press Releases, Ohio Housing News, Latest News, Association News, Homepage News

Home prices continue to rise in central Ohio
The sale price of a home in central Ohio year to date (January through November) stands at $174,130 which is 3.7 percent higher than homes sold during the same period of 2012. The average sale price of a home during the month of November was $169,655, an increase of 2.8 percent over sale prices one year ago according to the Columbus REALTORS® Multiple Listing System (MLS).
November home sales came in at 1,812 which were 10.3 percent behind sales in November of 2012. Even so, sales for the year (January through November) are up to 25,191 – 17.8 percent higher than 2012.

“It just so happens that home sales last year marked a record for the month of November,”” said Chris Pedon, 2013 president of Columbus REALTORS®. “Given our lower inventory levels, it’s not surprising sales took a bit of a hit last month.”

The number of homes and condos for sale in the Columbus region is just over 9,600, almost five percent lower than inventory levels a year ago.

“Inventory levels usually drop off during the holiday season,” adds Pedon. “But we haven’t seen inventory levels this low since 2002 so competition is fierce. As we still have buyers looking to make a commitment by the end of the year, and I’d advise any homeowner looking for an advantage to consider the market today.”

According to the latest Housing Market Confidence Index (by the Ohio Association of REALTORS®), 88 percent of central Ohio REALTORS® describe the current housing market as moderate to strong, but 95 percent expect the housing market to be moderate to strong over the next six months. As for home prices, 74 percent expect home prices to rise over the next year.

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

Columbus REALTORS® is comprised of over 6,200 real estate professionals engaged in residential sales and leasing, commercial sales and leasing, property management, appraisal, consultation, real estate syndication, land development and more.

The Columbus 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 53 local municipalities and school districts. Buckeye Valley Schools was added to the reports in February 2013.

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.Realtor.com  

• Tags: housing report, november report, housing, reports, sale price,

Source:  Columbus REALTORS               

Central Ohio Real Estate News....

Nov. 22 2013
Housing on track for second highest year
Central Ohio home sales are on track to be the second highest year ever, despite the decrease in inventory. So far, there have been 23,292 homes and condos sold this year between January 1 and October 31. The current record for the first ten months of the year is 23,540 back in 2005. Full report

Source:  Columbus Realtors

Pending home sales up 10.5 percent in September; Ohio market posts 29th straight monthly gain

Pending home sales up 10.5 percent in September; Ohio market posts 29th straight monthly gain

Home sales across Ohio up nearly 17 percent in August; average sales price continues to rise

Home sales across Ohio up nearly 17 percent in August; average sales price continues to rise

EXCITING REAL ESTATE MARKET NEWS.....

Central Ohio home sales topping the charts

Central Ohio home sales continue top the charts this year as sales for the first six months of the year (13,031) were 22.2 percent higher than last year - and the next highest on record behind 2006 when the market saw 13,192 sales January through June.

The 2,810 closings last month were 10.4 percent higher than June 2012 and mark the 18th month of year over year sales increases according to Columbus REALTORS®.

There were 3,721 homes that went into contract in June which is 17.7 percent higher than the previous year.

"We’ve seen a significant increase in activity this year which jumped further when interest rates started to rise,” said Chris Pedon, president of Columbus REALTORS®. “If mortgage rates continue to increase, we could see a softening of the market. But for now, many buyers have either jumped off the fence or stepped up their effort to buy now instead of taking that chance.”

In addition to sales, home prices have also risen. The average sale price during the month of June was $196,377 which is not only 6.6 percent higher than last year, but marks June 2013 as the highest sales price month on record.

Full report.

Source:  Columbus REALTORS,

July 22, 2013

REAL ESTATE MARKET NEWS......

Central Ohio Housing Report - Apr. 2013

Posted: 5/22/2013

Columbus Board of REALTORS®

April home sales set record high

Central Ohio home sales last month (2,390) showed an increase of 30 percent in the market from one year ago (1,834). According to the Columbus Board of REALTORS®, April saw the highest number of home sales on record, followed by the 2,286 homes sold in April of 2004.

In addition to the increases in sales, home prices continue to rise also. While the average sale price has increased every month in 2013 from $149,477 in January to $163,084 in April, the average sale price year-to-date ($156,386) is up almost one and a half percent from 2012.

“Even with more homes being sold and sale prices up, the average time on the market continues to fall: down over 20 percent from a year ago”, said Chris Pedon, 2013 president of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. “With such excellent market conditions, we’re seeing inventory move quickly.”

There were 3,965 new listings added to the market in April, up 8.9 percent from April of 2012. New listings also saw increases from one year ago, and have been rising every month this year.
“Central Ohio continues to see improvement in nearly every aspect of the market,” Pedon continued. “We have not seen the number of new listings this high in any month since April 2010.”

According to the latest Housing Market Confidence Index (by the Ohio Association of REALTORS®), 98 percent of central Ohio REALTORS® describe the current housing market as moderate to strong and 94 percent expect home prices to increase in the next year.

As a result of the considerable improvement in the housing market, 76 percent of Columbus area REALTORS® report an increase in multiple offers, and 24 percent say the number of properties receiving multiple offers has increase “a lot”.

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 53 local municipalities and school districts. Buckeye Valley Schools was added to the reports in February 2013.

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.Realtor.com.

Amazing "Reckless"

Reckless was a pack horse during the Korean war, and she carried recoil-less rifles, ammunition and supplies to Marines. Nothing too unusual about that, lots of animals got pressed into doing pack chores in many wars.

 

But this horse did something more…. during the battle for a location called Outpost Vegas, this mare made 50 trips up and down the hill, on the way up she carried ammunition, and on the way down she carried wounded soldiers…

 

What was so amazing? Well she made every one of those trips through enemy fire and without anyone leading her.

Here’s her story and photos to prove where she was and what she did….

 

 

 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=YIo3ZfA9da0

 

 

 

Home prices cap year with biggest rise since 2006

Reuters Photo. Home prices: A worker builds a new single-family home in San Marcos, Calif. IMAGE

1 day ago By Steven C. Johnson of Reuters

 

Consumer confidence also rose more than expected this month, and Commerce Department data showed that sales of new homes jumped 15.6 percent to a 4 1/2-year high.

NEW YORK — U.S. home prices closed out 2012 with the biggest annual gain in more than six years, while sales of new homes spiked in January, the latest sign that the long-suffering housing market was on the mend, data showed Tuesday.
American consumers, meanwhile, grew more optimistic in February as the prior month's worries about a broad tax increase faded.
"The numbers are all pretty strong. It's a significant rise in confidence and a strong rise in new homes sales — there is not really much to argue in those numbers," said David Sloan, an economist at 4Cast Ltd. in New York.
The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas showed home prices jumped 6.8 percent in the year to December, the best year-on-year gain since July 2006, just before the bottom began to fall out of the U.S. housing market.
The index gained 0.9 percent in December on a seasonally adjusted basis, topping economists' expectations of 0.5 percent.
Separately, Commerce Department data showed sales of new homes jumped 15.6 percent to a 4 1/2-year high. The percentage increase was the largest in almost 20 years.
Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington, called it "a blowout number."
MSN Money:Stocks rise on upbeat housing data, Bernanke | Consumer confidence rebounds in February
Consumer confidence rose more than expected this month as Americans shrugged off worries about fiscal policy.
But while the full brunt of tax increases and spending cuts that were scheduled to go into effect in 2013 was averted, taxes did rise for some Americans and the payroll deduction holiday came to an end, leaving consumers with less spending money.
Major U.S. stock indexes rallied while Treasury yields rose after the stronger-than-expected data.
Data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. showing the U.S. banking industry recorded its highest earnings last year since before the financial crisis also contributed to the rosier economic outlook.
HOUSING LEADS THE WAY
Improvements in housing helped lift fourth-quarter profits at Home Depot. The world's largest home improvement chain also forecast higher sales and earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Last year housing contributed to economic growth for the first time since 2005. Prices have been rising since last February, as the supply of available homes for sale tightened in 2012.
Investors buying cheap homes to be converted into rentals also supported the market and some struggling areas saw a sharp bounce back in prices.
But the market is far from fully healed. Some 20 percent of mortgages are underwater and foreclosure rates remain elevated.
"Housing won't be a huge contributor to growth this year, but we are on the long road to recovery," said Michael Hanson, senior U.S. economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "But consumers will need to see that these gains are persistent."
Homebuyers also have been enticed by the historically low interest rates. The Federal Reserve's latest stimulus efforts are helping to keep rates low, as the central bank buys assets including mortgage-backed securities.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke strongly defended that policy Tuesday. The Fed's rate setting-committee has said it intends to keep buying $85 billion of mortgage-backed and government debt each month until the labor market improves substantially.
Minutes from the central bank's last policy meeting revealed last week that some officials thought the Fed might have to taper off its purchases before seeing the increase in hiring that the program is designed to deliver.
RISKS REMAIN
Some economists expect rising home prices and recent stock market gains to blunt the impact of tax increases for consumers, which should help spending improve in the second half of 2013.
Macy's Inc., which also operates the Bloomingdale's chain of luxury stores, said Tuesday it expected same-store sales to rise about 3.5 percent this year.
But risks remain. Government spending cuts worth about $85 billion are due to take effect at the end of the week unless Washington agrees to postpone them.
A high jobless rate was also likely to drag on spending, economists said, while it would take time for an improved housing market to translate into much stronger spending and easier consumer lending.
"There's a mix of good news and bad news in the economy, and housing is on the good side of the ledger. But people can't slice off a piece of their house and take it to the store, they still need to borrow," said Hanson. "And concern about fiscal issues will keep consumer sentiment volatile."
Additional reporting by Lucia Mutikani in Washington and Leah Schnurr and Nick Olivari in New York; editing by Chizu Nomiyama.

Source:  MSN NEWS

EXCITING REAL ESTATE MARKET NEWS!

2012 home sales, prices flourish - best year since '07

Central Ohio saw 22,915 single-family and condominium home sales in 2012, up 15.5 percent from the previous

year, according to the Columbus Board of REATORS®. This marks the highest number of residential home sales

since 2007 – the end of the housing boom.

“2012 exceeded our expectations,” said Chris Pedon, President of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. “Sellers

opened their doors, buyers brought their confidence, lenders gave their best rates and REALTORS® worked eight

days a week.”

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 sale price for the month of December was $158,898 – a 7.5 percent increase over the same time

last year.

Full report

 
Source:  Columbus Board of REALTORS,
January 22, 2013