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Valley housing market up in ‘14
By BRANDON klein
YOUNGSTOWN
Positive December figures completed a solid year for the Mahoning Valley’s housing market in 2014.
Mahoning County sales increased 26.3 percent with 226 houses sold, jumping from 179 in December 2013, according to data released by the Youngstown/Columbiana Association of Realtors and the Warren Area Board of Realtors. Columbiana County’s closed sales last month increased 35.4 percent with 65 houses sold compared with 48 in December 2013. Trumbull County sales increased by 7.2 percent last month with 163 houses sold compared with 152 last year.
The median sales price remained the same in Columbiana County last month compared with December 2013 at $85,000. In Mahoning County, the median sales price went up by 4.1 percent, climbing from $73,784 in 2013 to $76,825.
The median sales price in Trumbull County last month was $67,500 — a 3.9 percent increase from $64,950 in December 2013.
“We were ahead of the market,” said Marlin Palich, general manager of Northwood Realty Services of Ohio. “There was a lot of movement, a lot of activity.”
Palich said the “cost of living is wonderful” in the area.
Additionally, Jeff Byce of Byce Auction & Realty in Youngstown said December was “a strong finish” for them.
“It’s definitely been an uptick for us,” he said. “I think we’re going to have a strong first quarter [this year].”
Mekael Teshome, an economist at PNC Financial Services, said the trend for the housing market in 2015 is positive.
“It’s going to be a slow improvement,” he said, but added that it would be better than last year.
The housing market has benefited from low gas prices, as homeowners used the money for renovations before selling on the market, Teshome said.
“There is a correlation between the two,” he said.
However, mortgage rates are slowly increasing while still at historically low levels, which reduces affordability, Teshome added.
While 2014 year-to-date closed sales increased a slight 0.5 percent and 2.7 percent for Mahoning and Columbiana counties, respectively, Trumbull showed moderate gains at 3.1 percent.
The 2014 median sales price in Mahoning County spiked 8.8 percent to $80,000. Meanwhile, Columbiana County saw a solid gain of 6.9 percent last year, ticking up to $89,000, and Trumbull County reported a 5.6 percent increase to a median sales price of $73,950.