LUCAS, WOOD COUNTIES

November home sales fall; average price rises

Realtors say properties selling at quicker pace

According to recent figures released by the Toledo Board of Realtors, 353 homes were sold in the two counties last month, compared to 368 in November, 2012.

Single-family home sales in Lucas and northern Wood Counties fell 4 percent in November from the same month a year ago, and were down 18 percent from October.

According to recent figures released by the Toledo Board of Realtors, 353 homes were sold in the two counties last month, compared to 368 in November, 2012.

For the entire 10-county multiple listing service area, home sales were down 11 percent from a year earlier and down 16 percent from October.

On the positive side, the average sales price for Lucas and Wood counties rose 5 percent to $114,785 in November from a year ago. For the entire MLS, the average price was up 6 percent to $110,346.

Homes are selling faster as well. The average number of days a home stays on the market fell to 118 in November from 131 a year earlier in Lucas and Wood counties. For the entire MLS, the average number of days fell to 125 from 131 a year ago.

Inventories also dropped in the two-county area, decreasing to a 10.1 months supply in November from 10.4 months in November, 2012. In the 10-county area, inventories rose to 10.7 months from 10 months a year earlier.

John Mangas, new president of the Board of Realtors, said the decrease in sales wasn’t surprising, given that the fall weather turned cold last month.

“The weather turned ugly and the amount of activity also dropped off,” he said. “But toward the early part of the market, the spring and summer, we were so active that, frankly, we couldn’t keep enough inventory listings around.”

Mr. Mangas, a broker with Re/​Max Preferred Associates, of Toledo, said it was logical going into the fourth quarter that sales would taper off. But the board of Realtors president said that he is very encouraged for the first quarter of 2014.

“I was in San Francisco recently for for the National Association of Realtors convention, and I heard their chief economist, Lawrence Yun, speak, and ... Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Cleveland were all markets he spoke about as being growth markets,” Mr. Mangas said.

“So I’m very encouraged for next year with maybe it being like 2013 or even a little better,” he said. “The job growth numbers there, corporate earnings are up, and the new Jeep [Cherokee] is popular.

“We really do have more things in the plus column this year than we’ve had in a long time. It’s very encouraging,” Mr. Mangas said.

— Jon Chavez