According to the Northeast Ohio Regional Multiple Listing Service (NORMLS) and an article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper,
homes sales in the region decreased slightly from August to September. Home inventory
has been higher but not significant, along with higher rental prices and
higher buyer
demand due to low interest rates, have been driving this increase in
activity and increase in
sales prices over the past year or so. Sales volume is increasing, and sales prices have shown a slowing increase.
Among
the 15 counties in Northeast Ohio, we saw a decline from August
to September for
single family homes and condominiums. However,
home sales are up 8.9% from September
of last year, and 3.0% over the first nine months of 2014 compared to
2013. As for sales prices, single family homes are down 1% and condos
are nearly 3% higher than September 2013.
Ohio's
sales volume showed a increase of 2.8% from last month and 0.3% from September 2013. Ohio's sales
prices rose by 6.8%, compared to last September. National figures have
shown a 2.4% improvement in sales volume
from August to September and showed a small decline from a year ago. Meanwhile, national prices have increased 5.6% from
last year, marking the 31st consecutive month of year-over-year price gains. Ohio and
Northeast Ohio's price increases have
slowed or stabilized recently, but the increases are what would be
typically expected for the region when compared with the nation.
The
key
point here is that the market is starting to stabilize and shifting to a
balanced/seller's market. Sellers are
getting more for their homes than last year (low inventory), 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 4.0%. A recent report indicates that
economists are projecting rates to rise to 5-5.5% in 2015.
This is a
great time for buyers who also have a home to sell (even in the Fall and Winter months), because rates are
still relatively low on the buying side, but home values have risen overall 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.
