Real estate chairman predicts solid year for local home sales

March 18, 2008 at 2:04p.m.

YOUNGSTOWN — The chairman of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services expects a solid year for local home sales and warns against focusing too much on national trends.

Howard “Hoddy” Hanna said today he expects home sales in the Mahoning Valley to fall about 2 percent this year but the average selling price to increase by about 1 percent to 3 percent.

Both numbers would be an improvement over 2007. Last year, home sales in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties dropped 7 percent, and the average selling price fell 8 percent, the Pittsburgh-based real estate company reported.

Hanna provided an overview of the real estate market for about 50 company agents at Youngstown State University. He congratulated them on their year so far, saying Howard Hanna’s sales in the Mahoning Valley are up 9 percent this year, compared with last year’s pace.

For the complete story, see Wednesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com.