Metro Toledo home sales steady, but prices are higher

Warm February credited with boost

Home sales in metro Toledo and in much of northwest Ohio have been steady so far in 2017 compared to a year ago, but sellers of single-family homes are fetching higher prices and properties are selling faster than a year ago.

New listings of homes for sale are down, which is decreasing the amount of inventory buyers have to work with — a sign that points to a seller’s market.

Numbers for the first two months of the year show steady sales.

Through the first two months of the year in Lucas and northern Wood counties, there were 697 sales, up just 1 percent from a year ago, according to figures released Friday by the Toledo Regional Association of Realtors. But in February alone, sales were up 10 percent to 378 units compared with 345 a year ago.

For the eight-county multiple listing service area covered by the board, there were 966 sales in January and February, up 2 percent from a year ago, figures show. However, February sales alone were up 7 percent to 508.

“I think the overriding theme is it was a really strong February. If you look at the home sales, it was a 10 percent increase in February,” said the local trade group’s president, Mark Remeis. “It has been a mild winter. It’s a lot easier to go out looking for homes in February when it’s 50 degrees instead of cold and snowy.”

In metro Toledo, the median sales price is up 9 percent year-to-date to $109,450 from $100,000 a year ago. The median means half of the sales are above that price and half are below. In the eight-county area, the median is up 8 percent year-to-date to $105,000 from $97,450 a year ago.

The average sales price in the metro area is up 9 percent to $129,350 year-to-date and is up 8 percent year-to-date in the entire MLS area to $124,113.

Metro Toledo homes for sale are staying on the market an average of 110 days through February, down 6 percent from a year ago. For the entire MLS, they are on the market 115 days through February, down 3 percent.

New listings in metro Toledo fell 6 percent through February to 1,188. That has pushed inventory down to a six-month supply from an eight-month supply a year ago. For the MLS, new listings are down 7 percent through February to 1,597. Inventory is at six months from eight months a year ago.

Mr. Remeis, of A.A. Green Realty in Bowling Green, said housing data show that from 2005 to 2010, people kept their homes an average of nearly six years, but today it’s 10 years.

“I think we would have done better if we had more inventory,” he said. “Agents have buyers on the sidelines because they can’t find what they want.”

In Monroe County, whose sales are not part of the Toledo Realtors’ report, home sales were down 16 percent to 106 units in February, according to the Monroe County Association of Realtors. The median price fell 3 percent to $134,750 and the average price was down 5 percent in February to $137,504.

Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.