Central Ohio's housing market is healthy and stable.

All real estate is local, yet the media often ignores the differences between markets and talks about national trends. That's why so many people are missing the message that central Ohio is faring well. In 2010 alone, 19,676 homes sold in central Ohio. Could yours be next?

2010 CENTRAL OHIO HOME SALES SHOW MARKED IMPROVEMENT: Home sales statistics for central Ohio in 2010 showed marked improvements compared to previous years according to the Columbus Board of REALTORS® (CBR). The average sale price of a home in 2010 was $158,893, just 0.6 percent lower than the average price of homes sold in 2009. However, the average price of homes sold in 2009 was 2.4 percent lower than 2008 which was 5.1 percent lower than 2007.

“Our market saw average sale price increases for eight of the 12 months of 2010,” says CBR’s 2011 President Rick Benjamin. “As we’ve experienced annual decreases in our average sale price since 2005, we see ending the year just half a point lower than 2009 as a positive for central Ohio homeowners.”

The 1,460 homes sold in December 2010 is just 0.3 percent lower than the number of homes sold in December of 2009. Annual 2010 home sales (19,676) finished 2.8 percent behind 2009 (20,235).

“There’s no question the home buyer tax credits had a significant affect on last year’s home sales,” adds Benjamin. “Providing home buyers with a substantial monetary incentive really helped to energize the market in the first half of 2010.”

“Homes in contract (which are expected to close in January or February) are up slightly from the previous year suggesting that home sales in the first of the year could be strong.”

Homes spent an average of 90 days on the market, a reduction of seven days from the average time to sell a home in 2009.

In December 2010, the month's supply of homes was down to 9.93, the lowest since last June. Month's supply is the ratio of inventory to sales which takes into account both supply and demand. A healthy market has a 6.5 to 7-month supply of homes, meaning if no new homes were added to the market, it would take about 6.5 or 7 months to sell all the available homes.
 

STABILITY IS EVERYTHING IN REAL ESTATE! Columbus is ranked as the seventh-most stable market in the U.S., according to a first-quarter 2009 report from PMI Mortgage Insurance. Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Indianapolis join Columbus in the top 10, with Dallas-Plano being ranked as the most stable market. Nearly half of the nation's 50 largest markets have an elevated risk that home values will continue to decline over the next two years. Columbus's risk is labeled "minimal."

Columbus ranks fifth in the list of Best Places for a Fresh Start, according to Relocation.com. The rankings were based on four criteria: popularity, job growth, home affordability and the rate of volunteerism.

Columbus was recently named one of the 66 markets in the country where it makes more sense to buy a home than to rent, according to an article on MSN.com. Experts from the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Center for Economic and Policy Research are recommending that renters in many of the nation's largest cities consider buying a home. According to their study, first-time buyers in these 66 regions can expect to be "in the black" within four years if they take advantage of today's low prices.

BusinessWeek ranked the best affordable suburbs in the U.S. state by state. The winner in Ohio? PATASKALA! According to the article from BusinessWeek,"We evaluated suburbs on a variety of factors but weighted affordability most heavily. We also considered lifestyle (short commutes, clean air, low crime, good weather, and green space), the quality of schools, and the strength of the local economy. None of the places had populations of more than 60,000 or less than 5,000. Pataskala, a suburb 20 miles east of Columbus, is one of a couple of municipalities in the state that operate without an income tax. The city has three downtowns and a number of sites designated for new development. About 37% of residents are married with children. The average commute is 27 minutes."

Considering our healthy economy and job market, central Ohio housing is "undervalued," according to the Chief Economist of the National Association of REALTORS^®. That's good news! It means that housing prices here are lower than what experts would expect them to be for such a healthy market.

The central Ohio real estate market has experienced a 40% increase in home prices over the past decade, and that positive trend is expected to continue.

With strong home sales in every central Ohio suburb, from Grove City and Pickerington to Westerville and Dublin, our metropolitan area continues to offer many choices for homeowners. This market is healthy all the way around - any way you look at it.

It was a good year to be Columbus or Seattle, according to a recent MarketWatch report on the best U.S. metro areas for business. "Thanks to a 26-point gain in its score, Columbus, Ohio jumped seven spots and into the top 10," the report says. "This region, home to the biggest U.S. university, has managed to avoid the Rust Belt troubles of Cleveland and other Ohio cities. Columbus is one of two cities new to the top 10 this year, rising from 14th place a year ago." MarketWatch ranks the cities based on number of businesses and the employee base, population growth, job growth, and unemployment figures. Columbus was ranked 7th, after Minneapolis-St. Paul, Boston, Denver, Washington, D.C., Richmond, and Charlotte.

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