Cleveland, Northeast OH Area Real Estate Market August 2013

According to the Northeast Ohio Regional Multiple Listing Service (NORMLS) and an article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper, homes sales in the region continue to surpass last year's sales figures. Lower home inventory, higher rental prices and higher buyer demand due to low (but climbing) interest rates, is driving this increase in activity and increase in sales prices.  The low inventory continues to increase new construction demand, as well.
Sales comparing August 2012 to August 2013 show increasing sales figures by double digits, like they did in the past 3 months.  Among the 15 counties in Northeast Ohio, single family home sales are up 11.3% and 19.8% for condominium sales.  From July to August 2013, sales rose by 1.2%. 

By comparison, Northeast Ohio is showing a 8% price increase from last year, with the state of Ohio's at 3.4%. Ohio's sales volume increase was also up by over 16.9% from August 2012.  The US market saw a 14.7% increase in sales price from the year before, and is showing a sales volume increase of only 13.2%.  Northeast Ohio's price increases have stabilized recently, while Ohio and the US have dipped a bit.

Ohio just marked 26 straight months of annual sales gains, and nationwide sales of existing homes hit their highest level in 6.5 years.  Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, described the August jump as a "temporary peak," driven by higher interest rates on home loans.  He said he expects sales to be uneven over the coming months and that rising sales prices and restrictive lending may hold back sales growth.

The key point here is that the market is starting to stabilize and shifting to a seller's market.  Sellers are getting more for their homes than last year, with buyers paying a bit more to purchase a home to take advantage of the low interest rates.  Buyers should note that interest rates have begun to increase over the past several months, hovering around 4.5%. 

This is a great time for buyers who also have a home to sell, because rates are still relatively low on the buying side, but home values have risen in many areas to improve the financial return on the selling side.  If the economy continues to improve, buyers in the current market will be able to realize value gains for the homes they purchase as well.