Area real estate slide persists
5/8/2009The Toledo real estate market suffered more last month, with 11 percent fewer homes sold in April than a year ago and the average sales price dropping 21 percent to $92,000, according to the Toledo Board of Realtors.
The trade group, which released its report yesterday, said 337 houses sold in Lucas County last month, down from 377 for the month a year ago. For the first four months of the year, sales are down just 1 percent from last year, at 1,183 homes, with an average price of $80,000.
The year-to-date figures are closer to the results of a national study released this week which showed metro Toledo was one of nine areas among 161 metro communities nationally which had a growth in housing values (at 1.5 percent) in the first quarter of this year compared to last year.
For the 14 northwest Ohio counties tabulated by the local Realtors group, house sales were off 13 percent last month from a year ago, at 507, and the average price fell 18 percent to $96,000. For the year to date for the region, sales were down 5 percent at 1,796, and the average price was down 22 percent to $90,000.