Home prices remain down
Friday, May 16, 2008
Fred Greil doesn't need anyone to tell him home prices have fallen.
Greil said he recently bought a house in Tipp City — one that had been on the market for more than a year — for $50,000 less than he could have in a more robust market.
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"There are definitely good buys out there if you're patient," said Greil, owner of Buckeye Motors in Troy.
In 2007, the average sale price for a home in the Dayton area declined about 1 percent, the second year prices have slipped, according to figures from the Dayton Area Board of Realtors. The decreases followed four consecutive years in which prices grew at least 2 percent annually and record numbers of single-family homes were sold.
So far, the trend toward lower prices has continued into 2008. For the first three months, homes on average sold for $120,419, 3.9 percent less than a year ago when the average price was $125,290, according to the Dayton board, which tracks Montgomery, Greene, Preble and Warren counties.
Industry watchers acknowledge that the home market has taken a hit. But they also say area home prices have stayed stable when compared to markets in California, Nevada and Florida, where values soared during the boom, only to plummet with equal force when the downturn came.
"We've never really been, in recent years, a market that has seen the abrupt spikes or the deep troughs of a lot of other markets," said Doug Harnish, president of Gem Public Sector Services. "That's probably been one of the things that has helped us in recent months."
For his part, Greil can live with the price fluctuations. In order to move to Tipp City, he had to sell his house in Troy for $15,000 less than he paid for it, but he was able to get a house he liked better and for less money, he said.
