Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Photo
A “sold” sign stands outside a home in Riverview, Fla. Americans bought more previously owned homes in April, a hopeful sign that the weak housing market gradually is improving. Home sales in Ohio increased 11.3 percent in the first four months of 2012 compared with 2011.
Staff/wire report
Columbus
Home sales throughout the state continued to grow in April, making it 10-consecutive months of improving sales.
Sales of new and existing homes increased 11.3 percent during the first four months of 2012 compared with the prior year. There were 30,609 homes sold, according to statistics provided by the state’s Multiple Listing Services.
“Strong activity in April continued to help push the Ohio real-estate marketplace forward on its road to recovery, following the downturn that resulted from the economic collapse of 2008,” said Robert U. Miller, president of the Ohio Association of Realtors. “We’re extremely hopeful that achieving 10-consecutive months of sales growth is an indication that growth within Ohio’s housing market is sustainable and that we have built a pretty solid foundation for current and future homeowners.”
The association is confident about the Ohio market with prices that have begun to trend upward, Miller said.
Not only did sales levels during the first four months exceed the pace of a year ago, the average sales price from January through April throughout Ohio this year increased 3.8 percent, reaching $122,373.
Total dollar volume this year for home sales is nearly $3.8 billion, a 15.8 percent increase from last year’s four-month mark of more than $3.2 billion.
Sales in April were 9,099, an 8.1 percent increase from the 8,420 sales posted during the same period a year ago. The month’s average sales price of $130,003 is a 5 percent increase from the April 2011 mark of $123,544.
Total dollar volume in April nearly reached $1.2 billion, a 13.7 percent increase from the $1 billion mark posted a year ago.
Nationwide, sales increased in every region, the latest indication that the housing market could be on the mend.
An increasing portion of those sales are from first-time buyers, who are critical to a housing recovery.
Sales of previously occupied homes rose 3.4 percent in April from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. That nearly matches January’s pace of 4.63 million — the best in two years. It still is well below the nearly 6 million that most economists equate with healthy markets.
Sales rose last month from March in all regions of the country. They increased 5.1 percent in the Northeast, 3.5 percent in the South, 4.4 percent in the West and 1 percent in the Midwest.