The average sale price for single-family homes and condominiums in January increased to $254,396, up12.6% from last January, while the median sale price also improved, reaching $206,000, up 9.9% from last year.
Kelly McCormick, president of Dayton Realtors, a realtor for 33 years, said January’s numbers were “amazing.”
“I think people are getting used to the higher interest rates,” McCormick said. “Buyers that were so marginalized last year thinking they might come down and they didn’t.
“I think everybody hoped coming into 2024 we were going to see maybe high fives, but that didn’t happen, so I think high sixes, low sevens is where we are right now and I think buyers are sort of accepting that and maybe adjusting their expectation of sales price or affordability and moving forward.”
McCormick said she continues to see the market favor sellers.
“If buyers are coming back into the market that were holding off last year, it’s still a seller’s market,” she said.
In addition, “sellers can be buyers.”
“Buyers (are) tending to loosen up on their end and putting their houses on the market because they still know they can get a good price and they’ve accepted the higher interest rates, so they’re moving into the buyer market,” she said. " That circle, if you will, from home sales to home purchases is what I’m seeing for January and February at this point.”
Austin Castro, a team leader at Coldwell Banker, said even in January, where there was a slight uptick in interest rates for the first time in a couple of months, “the consumer is just becoming more accustomed to this is the new norm, and (realizing) there’s not going to be some massive reset.”
“Inventory is starting to come up slightly, but it’s being absorbed really quick,” he said. “Nothing’s sitting on the market (and) it’s just because all that pent up demand.”
The market, which he said is “efficient,” will put itself in check moving forward, he said.
“You’re seeing properties coming to market and priced right, positioned correctly, and it’s being absorbed quickly now,” Castro said. “Don’t get me wrong, there’s still not the free for all it was two years ago. Two years ago you could throw it up at what you wanted and it was going to (sell). That’s not the case (now). If you’re overpriced, if you’re not positioned right, you don’t show well, it’s going to sit, but the market’s kind of putting itself back in check.”
More homes entered the market last month than January 2022, reaching 1,174 new listings added, a 19% increase, the organization said. Total available active inventory was 1,615 by the end of January, putting the pace of sales at 1.8 months.
A normal market inventory supply of homes is approximately three months, Dayton Realtors previously said.
The increase in home sales locally was mirrored at the state level, albeit not in as dramatic a fashion.
Ohio home sales in January reached 7,547, a 4.4% increase from the 7,229 home sales recorded during the month a year ago, according to Ohio Realtors. That marked an increase for the first time since 2022, the organization said.
Additionally, sales price and dollar volume across Ohio were up compared to January 2023, with the average sales price reaching $254,943, a 7.4% increase from the $237,467 mark recorded in January 2023.
All of that signifies “a robust and buoyant housing market,” according to Ohio Realtors President Ali Whitley.
“An Ohio REALTOR serves as a professional partner, guiding buyers and sellers through the intricate process of homebuying and selling, to successfully achieve their housing goals,” Whitley said in a statement.
Ten of the 15 Ohio markets tracked experienced an increase in average sale price for this January compared to January 2023, the organization said.
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