Cleveland, Northeast OH Area Real Estate Market December 2013

According to the Northeast Ohio Regional Multiple Listing Service (NORMLS) and an article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper, annual homes sales in the region increased overall in 2013 from 2012 by 11.8%. Lower home inventory, higher rental prices and higher buyer demand due to low (but climbing) interest rates, have been driving this increase in activity and increase in sales prices over the past year or so.
Sales comparing December 2012 to December 2013 slid slightly.  Among the 15 counties in Northeast Ohio, single family home sales were down a percentage points. 

By comparison, Northeast Ohio is showing a 6.1% price increase from last year (3.1% for condos), with the state of Ohio's at 5.2%. Ohio's sales volume increase was also up by over 14.7% compared to 2012.  The US market saw a 11.5% increase in sales price from 2012 to 2013, and is showing a sales volume increase of 9.1%.  Ohio and Northeast Ohio's price increases have stabilized/slow down recently, while the US sales prices continue to rise at a higher rate, which has been historically the case in our area compared with the nation.  There is still a concern that home prices are rising faster than income growth.

Nationally, "Existing-home sales have risen nearly 20 percent since 2011, with job growth, record-low mortgage interest rates and large pent-up demand driving the market," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the national Realtors. "We lost some momentum toward the end of 2013 from disappointing job growth and limited inventory, but we ended with a year that was close to normal given the size of our population."

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 decreased slightly, 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.