Local home sales rise, but prices drop

Two house are for sale in the same block of Barrington Drive in the Old Orchard neighborhood in 2011.

Home sales in metro Toledo in November rose 2 percent over the same month a year ago, but home sale prices fell, according to a report released Monday by the Toledo Regional Association of Realtors.

Meanwhile, as it has nearly all year, inventory continued to decrease, while the number of days homes took to sell fell as the area housing market rolled toward a solid year-end finish.

“It will be a year of positives. We’ve seen good appreciation gains in our market, we’ve seen sellers that are moving product in quick fashion, our average days on market is down considerably from previous years,” said Mark Remeis, president of the Realtors’ association.

“We’ve even started to see a little bit of new construction, but I’d say that will be on the to-do list for 2018. We hope to see more speculation and new construction from the builders,” he said. “That’s probably the piece that’s caused our inventory to be off, that lack of new construction.”

November sales totaled 453 homes in Lucas and northern Wood counties compared with 444 a year ago. The median selling price fell 6 percent to $111,000, and the average price dropped 4 percent to $142,000.

Inventory in metro Toledo declined 20 percent from a year ago, while homes spent 97 days on the market, a drop of 6 percent.

In the eight-county northwest Ohio multiple-listing territory, sales rose 3 percent to 627 homes sold. The median sale was essentially flat at $114,000 while the average price declined just under 1 percent to $137,409.

Inventory declined 14 percent, while homes for sale spent 92 days on the market, a drop of 11 percent.

“Days on market is down like we’ve seen all year long. And inventory change is pretty drastic compared to a year ago,” Mr. Remeis said of the report.

The sale-price declines in metro Toledo and the region were disappointing, he added. But many times as the end of the year draws closer, the price of some homes that have been on the market for the spring and summer will be reduced, he said.

As the end of the year nears, Mr. Remeis said the main thing buyers, sellers, and real estate agents will be watching is the weather.

“That is probably the biggest key for us as we go through the next several months,” he said. “Historically, when we’ve had mild weather and not a lot of snow and the temperature isn’t down to 10 degrees, people are willing to go around and look at houses and even considering putting houses on the market,” he said. “We could use that inventory. Quite frankly, if we had had more inventory, we’d have better numbers this year.”

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