Local homes keep selling, despite stay at home order

National sales were a different story, however, with sales of previously owned homes falling 8.5 percent in March.

It may be just the beginning.

"We expect that existing home sales will fall substantially further in coming months as the full brunt of the COVID-19 recession hits the economy," said Dave Berson, Nationwide chief economist. "But if economic growth resumes later this year (implying job gains), then low mortgage rates and positive demographics should help the existing home market rebound -- modestly later this year, but more strongly in 2021."

Dayton-area sales of single-family and condominiums last month totaled 1,321, the highest monthly sales so far this year, the Dayton Realtors trade group said in a release Tuesday. In February, sales hit 1,002 homes and condos, a 9.5 percent rise over the 915 properties sold in the same month in 2019.

“These sales figures also bested last March’s numbers by well over eleven percent,” the organization said.

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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine imposed an initial stay at home order March 22 that was to last until April 6. The order was extended until May. 1.

Sales volume in March totaled $244 million, leading to an average sale price of $184,756 and a median sale price of $161,000, Dayton Realtors said.

“The overall sales volume was up a whopping 27 percent while the average (up 13 percent) and median prices (up 17 percent) continued to improve over last year’s numbers,” the trade group said.

Each of the first three months of 2020 saw increases over the previous year in prices and sales.

Through March, sales reached 3,282, a nine percent rise from the same point in 2019 when 3,002 transactions occurred over the same period, the group said.

Sales volume showed $581 million in sales transactions so far, a rise of more than 23 percent from 2019.

The average sale price year-to date stood at $177,066, a 13 percent increase over 2019’s year-to-date mark. The median sale price also grew, from $134,000 in 2019 to $151,500 through March 2020, another 13 percent increase.

There were 1,668 new listings added in March, down from last year’s 1,709, and year-to-date listings saw 4,466 listings, an increase of more than four percent from the figures submitted through March of last year.

The inventory of single-family and condominium listings was 2,523 at the end of March, which represented a supply of two months based on March’s pace of sales.