Realtors: Home sales end a strong year on a strong note

Area home sales ended a strong 2015 on a strong note, the Dayton Area Board of Realtors said Friday.

According to the board’s Multiple Listing Service, 1,073 single-family homes and condominiums were sold last month, an 8.6 percent jump compared to December 2014’s 988 sales.

In fact, December posted the highest number of sales and average price versus any December on record, the board said.

Michael Martin, board president, said a number of factors came together to make 2015 so strong.

Consumer confidence was up nationwide, and home-sellers benefited a bit from low inventory, which gave buyers fewer choices.

Also, lower interest rates and programs for first-time home-buyers and those struggling with securing a down payment all played a role, Martin said.

“2015 was actually the best year we’ve had since we’ve been tracking or posting” annual sales numbers, he said.

Median home prices are expected to rise in this area about 3-to-4 percent, he predicted. And he said that wages have not risen with a slow-recovering economy, which could have an impact looking ahead.

As well, foreclosures in Ohio make up less than 4 percent of mortgages, significantly lower than in the past, Martin said.

A sales volume of $144 million was an 8 percent improvement over last December, producing an average sale price of $135,741, up 0.5 percent from last year, the board said. The median price of $108,900 was down 2.8 percent from last year.

Available listings at year’s end was 5,550, which amounted to a supply of 5.1 months based on December’s pace of sales, the board said. That inventory compares to 2014’s end, when 5,202 listings was viewed as a 5.2 month inventory of open listings.

The board put the final average sale price for 2015 at $140,229 and the median sale price at $119,900, each increases of more than 4 percent.

The Cincinnati area also reported a good December and a good year. The area recorded its best December home sales ever, up 10.4 percent, compared to a year ago, according to the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors.

December home sales numbered 1,809 compared to 1,639 in December 2014. The number of homes sold (closed) for the year were up 7.2 percent from 2014, the Cincinnati board said.

“2015 was a great year for greater Cincinnati, recording the most home sales since 2006,” Patti Stehlin, Cincinnati board president, said in a release.

Nationally, the news reflected similar trends.

U.S. home sales rebounded in December, and total sales in 2015 were the most in nine years, according to reports.

The National Association of Realtors said Friday that sales of existing homes climbed 14.7 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.46 million, the Associated Press reported.

“This is a great way to cap off 2015,” said Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.

Nationally, total sales for 2015 reached 14,623, compared to 13,156 in 2014, up more than 11 percent.

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