With home sales down, market remains tough for buyers

5/20/2018
BY JON CHAVEZ
BLADE BUSINESS WRITER

Home sales in Lucas and Wood counties were down in the first quarter of this year, but there were pockets where sales were strong.

The most consistently popular spot in the metro area — Perrysburg — remained so in the quarter, with sales there increasing and the median price rising.

Perrysburg recorded 111 closed sales from January through March for a 2.8 percent increase compared to a year ago.

The median price of homes there rose 17.2 percent in the quarter to $228,500, according to statistics from the Toledo Regional Association of Realtors. The median means half of the homes sold were above the median price and half were below.

Although home sales in Lucas and Wood counties were down in the first quarter, the area had pockets of strong sales. Perrysburg remained the most popular spot.
Although home sales in Lucas and Wood counties were down in the first quarter, the area had pockets of strong sales. Perrysburg remained the most popular spot.

Doug Kwiatkowski, president of the area Realtors association, said there isn’t any one particular price segment that is selling more than the others across the metro area.

“When we look at the overall marketplace or the ‘burbs and even in Toledo, inventories are low across all price ranges, which means sales are happening across the board,” Mr. Kwiatkowski said. “In the $100,000 to $150,000 to $200,000 to $250,000-plus categories, it’s just difficult to find houses to buy.”

The real estate agent said he has been working with one couple for six months trying to find them a suitable home. Few are acceptable, and when one is, it usually is subject to a bidding war with multiple offers, he said.

“The $80,000 seller is buying up to $150,000 and so on and so forth. They’re all trickling up,” Mr. Kwiatkowski said. “And without a large foreclosure market or a lot of new-home construction, sales are still hitting every price point.”

Overall, quarterly home sales in Wood County dropped less than half a percent while the median price of homes rose 23.7 percent to $180,000.

Meanwhile, in Lucas County home sales in the first quarter totaled 1,093 units, a drop of 5.1 percent from a year ago. The median home price also fell to $99,250, a drop of 7.7 percent.

Lucas County’s pockets of sales activity included the Sylvania-Sylvania Township area, in which 124 homes sold, though that number was a 6.1 percent decrease from a year ago. The median home price in Sylvania-Sylvania Township was down 8.7 percent to $190,750.

Two other areas had strong sales activity in Lucas County during the first quarter.

One was a large swath of West Toledo from I-475 south to Airport Highway and from Talmadge Road west to McCord Road.

That area had 118 closed sales in the quarter, a gain of nearly 2 percent from a year ago. Its median price fell to $95,000, a drop of 2.5 percent.

The second area of strong sales was in a northern section of Lucas County, from the state line south to I-475 and from Jackman Road west to Secor Road.

That area of the county had 106 closed sales, which was a gain of 2.9 percent. Its median price, however, fell 4.2 percent to $75,000.

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