Existing-home sales in metro Toledo slip in February

Realtors blame bad weather for slump, predict surge in spring

John Mangas, president of the local board of Realtors, predicts spring will see a boom in home sales.

Sales of existing homes in metro Toledo in February fell 24 percent but the median sales price rose slightly, according to new figures from the Toledo Board of Realtors.

There were 254 home sales that closed last month, compared with 336 in February, 2013, in the combined area of Lucas and northern Wood counties.

However, the median sales price in metro Toledo rose 1 percent to $66,250, up from $65,750. The average sales price declined 8 percent to $94,037 in February, down from $102,260 year over year.

The figures are based on sales data from the board’s multiple listing service.

For the full 10-county multiple listing service operated by the board, which includes Defiance, Fulton, Henry, Lucas, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Sandusky, Williams, and Wood counties, home sales were down 21 percent in February, totaling 371 closed sales compared with 469 a year earlier.

The median sales price increased 4 percent to $68,000 from $65,600 a year earlier. The average sales price declined 5 percent to $92,632 from $98,009, the board’s figures showed.

John Mangas, president of the board of Realtors, said the local industry was disappointed by the February numbers but not surprised.

“The consumers and buyers just didn’t get out in February. With the record cold and record snowfall, we just didn’t see the traffic,” Mr. Mangas said.

“The market is still there. It’s just going to be a pent-up market, and when the weather breaks, we’ll see some record numbers, I’m certain,” he added.

Mr. Mangas, who is a broker-partner of ReMax Preferred Associates in Toledo, said local real estate agents started to see increasing home sales activity last week as temperatures finally warmed a little.

“I don’t believe it’s a lack of interest,” he said. “My agents are telling me they’ve got a lot in the pipeline but conversion [to a sale] has been a huge problem thus far.”

While home sales were slower in Toledo and nearly every surrounding municipality, one exception was Sylvania. It topped the list with 30 sold homes and 35 sales pending. The next highest suburban areas were the Tremainsville and North Towne areas of Toledo. Each had 22 sales, and they had 31 and 26 pending sales, respectively.

Sylvania also had only 8.7 months’ worth of inventory remaining, the second-lowest number in the area behind Franklin Park/​Trilby. Sylvania’s average sale price was $143,256, and its median sale price was $163,000.

Jack Schroeder, a real estate agent with ReMax Preferred who works mainly in the Sylvania area, said it was a hotbed for home sales in January and February.

“This year the weather has impacted things because people don’t want to leave their houses to look. But in Sylvania, the inventory is really low. So when a new listing goes up you get a lot of activity immediately,” Mr. Schroeder said.

Listings are tight in Sylvania, especially in the upper price ranges, he added. “If you look between $250,000 and $350,000, or better yet, in the $300,000 to $400,000 range, there’s very few homes for people to choose from, so when one of those comes on the market, there’s showings very quickly and they sell pretty quickly.

“I believe it’s going to be a really exciting spring market,” he added.

Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.