JUST IN: Dayton homes sales plummet 22%

The coronavirus pandemic has caught up to what had been strong Dayton-area home sales.

Single-family home and condominium sales fell 22% in April with 1,133 sales reported, the Dayton Realtors trade organization said.

These are the lowest April home sales since 2014, and the drop was steep enough to push down the year-to-date sales number, with the first four months of 2020 marking a decline. Through April, sales reached 4,431, 42 units fewer than 2019’s year-to-date sales.

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This dovetails what’s been happening nationally, with sales of previously owned homes plummeting in April. Existing-home sales dropped 17.8% in April, the biggest monthly decline since July 2010, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

Statewide, same story. Ohio sales were down 18.6% from a year ago.

“The Ohio housing marketplace was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, as sales activity fell drastically in the days and weeks leading up to state issuing its stay at home order,” said Ohio Realtors President Chris Reese.

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Similarly, local sales volume generated by April’s activity also fell, totaling $212 million, a 17% decline from April 2019, the local organization said.

The average local sales price year-to-date stood at $179,691, a 10% rise over 2019’s year-to-date numbers.

New listings locally fell by nearly a third. There were 1,372 new listings added in April, down almost 33% percent from last year.

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