Area home sales drop, but average price climbs

Homes sales locally dropped last month, although the average sales price climbed, a report released Thursday shows.

The number of sales was 192 in January, down 21 percent from a year ago in Lucas County, the Toledo Board of Realtors report finds. For parts of 14 counties in northwest Ohio, the number of sales last month shrank to 314, down 14 percent from a year ago.

But the average sales price climbed to $87,987 in Lucas County, up 22 percent from January, 2008, and rose 13 percent to $96,228 in northwest Ohio, the report shows.

That follows the annual report for 2009, when local homes sold decreased but the average price increased.