43
Valley home sales post modest gains
YOUNGSTOWN
October home-sales figures show that the Mahoning Valley’s real-estate market is keeping pace, with momentum enough last month to post modest gains.
The trend reflects stable growth in the area’s economy, Realtors say.
In September, after months of double-digit increases, sales across the Valley leveled off in an indication that prime buying season had passed with the end of summer and winter fast approaching.
October was no different, with sales either unchanged or slightly above where they stood at the same time in 2011, according to figures from the Youngstown- Columbiana Association of Realtors.
In Mahoning County, home sales increased 9.5 percent, going from 179 in October 2011 to 196 last month. The median sales price was up by 22.4 percent, going from $67,000 to $82,000 in a year.
Like Trumbull and Columbiana counties, the median sales price in Mahoning was well below October’s national median of $178,600, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Jeff Byce, an auctioneer, appraiser and broker at Byce Auction & Realty in Youngstown, says prices likely will remain low for the foreseeable future.
“The middle of the market remains stagnant, there’s a lot more inventory coming into that $60,000 to $80,000 price range,” he said. “It’s also being kept down by bank foreclosures, houses that would have sold for between $100,000 and $120,000 four or five years ago are being sold at lower prices because they’ve been neglected or empty for so long.”
October sales were flat in Trumbull County, matching the 144 closings in 2011. The median sales price increased 11.4 percent, going from $62,850 to $70,000 in a year.
The median sales price in Columbiana County dropped 12.6 percent, going from $80,000 in October 2011 to $69,950 last month, but still an $1,825 improvement from September. In all, closings ticked up slightly by 9.8 percent to reach 67 last month, compared with 61 a year earlier.
Byce added that prices are down because of the mix of homebuyers either acting on lower mortgage rates or coming into the area from out of state.
He said the market is on a “bell curve” at the moment, with higher-end homes selling quickly at top rates, just as lower-end homes, those between $25,000 and $45,000, are being scooped up by investors and landlords in a trend keeping mid-market prices stymied.
A bright spot is less time on the market, with homes in Trumbull and Mahoning counties consistently selling faster in the past 12 months.
In Columbiana County, time on the market has hit a 12-month low at 102 days.
“It’s got to the point where people are buying higher-end homes. Before, it was repossessed houses or rental units,” said Pat Gallagher, of Pat Gallagher Realty in Columbiana. “Buyers are just deciding to go ahead and make the purchase because the houses are being priced to sell.”
Home-sales activity across the state increased by 23 percent in October, helping the marketplace record its 16th-consecutive monthly sales gain, according to the Ohio Association of Realtors.
Economists continue to signal a still-nascent recovery in the national real- estate market.
The National Association of Realtors reported Monday a 2.1 percent gain in October — for a seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 4.79 million homes — still below the 5.5 million home sales considered to be a benchmark for strong growth.