Eaton, Dayton, Franklin-Carlisle, Jamestown, Miami Twp., Miamisburg, Trotwood, Waynesville, West Carrollton and Xenia all saw the average sale price of homes and condominiums sold in 2012 rise more than 2 percent from 2011, according to figures provided by Dayton Area Board of Realtors.
West Carrollton saw the highest year-over-year percent increase in sale price, up more than 14 percent to $65,862 on 156 homes sold. Dayton saw its average sale price rise 8.6 percent to $46,863 on 1,062 homes sold.
A house is the biggest asset most people own. The sale price helps determine the market value of a home and other homes in the neighborhood.
“I think we’re starting to see the housing market somewhat stabilize. We’re past that turmoil point and uncertainty that goes with the job losses,” said Aaron Sorrell, Dayton director of planning and community development.
Communities that saw their average sale prices drop the most from 2011 to 2012 include Beavercreek-Beavercreek Twp., Centerville-Washington Twp., Englewood-Clayton and New Lebanon.
The average sale price in Beavercreek and Beavercreek Twp. dropped the most — by 10 percent to $181,520 on 581 home sales.
Dayton and Trotwood “were hit so hard early on that their bottom was a lot lower. When you’ve hit rock bottom, you’ve only got one way to go and that’s up,” said Matthew Watercutter, regional vice president of HER Realtors. “The communities such as Beavercreek that were less damaged are recovering slower than the other communities. However, overall they didn’t take as big of a hit.”
Other communities saw their average sale prices change less than 2 percent. They include Fairborn, Huber Heights, Kettering, Oakwood and Springboro.
Going back further to before the economic downturn, data from the board of realtors shows no community has seen home prices fully recover. The area’s housing market peaked in 2005 with a record number of homes sold in a year (14,618) and a record average sale price ($136,433).
Some of the same communities that saw prices pick up the most in 2012 — Trotwood and West Carrollton — still have the biggest declines in average prices from 2005 to 2012. Trotwood's average sales price is still 46.5 percent below what it was in 2005. Trotwood homes sold for an average $75,319 in 2005 compared to $40,238 in 2012.
West Carrollton’s average prices are still down 40 percent over the same period.
Dayton’s housing market is 12.5 percent below a 2005 average price of $53,573, and the sales volume is half of what it was then. The city will be dealing with challenges left over from the housing crisis for years to come, Sorrell said.
“This will not be a quick recovery by any means. It’s great that prices are moving in the right direction if you’re a seller, but the effects of the predatory lending and the housing lending debacle that took place will linger for decades around this area,” Sorrell said.
“We’re certainly not an island and that affects everyone,” he said.
All together, however, the area’s housing market shows renewed signs of life on all fronts: More higher-priced homes are selling, new home construction is ramping up, and fewer new foreclosure cases are being filed.
Last year, the average sale price of homes sold in Greene, Montgomery and Preble counties and the northern part of Warren County rose a hefty 5.6 percent to $122,425 overall, the highest year-over-year appreciation since 1998, according to Dayton Area Board of Realtors. The yearly price increase since 1973 in the Dayton market averages 4 percent.
A total 11,609 single family homes and condominiums were sold last year, up about 11 percent.
Jim Baldwin bought a Centerville duplex in January and plans to live in one side and rent the other. He moved here from Cleveland, where it took him three years to sell his house. He sold it at a loss and searched about a year to find property in this region.
“Right now I do believe the market is at a bottom and starting to rebound so I expect prices to go back up. It’s a great time to buy a home. I got a great interest rate,” Baldwin said.
New construction ticked up. There were 1,715 residential building permits issued for new houses, apartments and condos in 2012, up about 3 percent from 2011, according to Home Builders Association of Dayton. Still, it’s a fraction of the more than 5,000 residences Dayton home builders put up in 2004.
“This market we just came out of was a depression for the building industry, not a recession. We see the high points coming,” said home builder Tom Peebles.
George Oberer Jr., chief executive officer of home builder, developer, and property management firm Oberer Companies, said new construction will never go back to where it was without population and job growth to support it. The foreclosure crisis closes off a segment of people with damaged credit who can’t qualify to buy or build a new home for years and people ‘underwater’ in their current mortgage. And people’s housing preferences have changed — they’re downsizing.
“I don’t think you’re going to see rampant appreciation. We’re seeing stabilization,” he said.
Foreclosures are at their lowest level in a decade. In 2012, foreclosure cases filed in county courts reached 3,753 in Montgomery County, a total 5,935 including Greene, Montgomery, Preble and Warren counties. At the height of the recession in 2008, the four counties filed 7,645 foreclosures, according to case statistics provided by county clerks.
Montgomery County had more than 5,000 properties foreclosed each year from 2006 through 2008.
“We’re starting to recover, but we still have a backlog here in the community that we need to deal with from those high years just a few years ago,” said Montgomery County Clerk of Courts Greg Brush.
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