The 1,707 sales last month in the Dayton area produced a cumulative sales volume of over $348.1 million, up 22% from last year.
Nationally, U.S. home sales rose to their highest level in nearly 14 years last month, Reuters news service reported.
With interest rates expected to remain low, job gains projected to continue to increase at an above-trend pace and work-from-home or hybrid work models enduring, Nationwide Chief Economist David Berson expects that home sales will continue to be strong.
“A surge in new COVID-19 infections leading to additional significant government-mandated shutdowns could slow or reverse the housing boom, but widely-distributed and effective vaccines are likely to push the economy up next year – keeping housing demand strong,” Berson said in an email.
The housing market would be healthier if the inventory of homes for sale was higher, he added. Nationally, the number of existing homes for sale was 18.6% below year-earlier levels and were close to an all-time low, on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to Nationwide.
Tight inventory continues to be a problem in the Dayton area, too, Dayton Realtors said. Listings in August were 4% less than last year, at 1,877 entries.
And the central Ohio housing market saw record home sales in August as almost 3,400 homes and condominiums changed hands, up almost five percent from last year and the highest number of sales documented for this late summer month, according to Columbus Realtors.
In Dayton, the January-August average sales price increased 9% to $192,743 while the median sales price increased 8.8% to $165,500.
However, year-to-date sales are lagging in the Miami Valley, with the 10,925 sales falling a percent from last year’s number at this point.
The overall active inventory of Dayton-area single-family homes and condos at the end of August stood at 2,113, just over a month’s supply of listings based on August’s sales pace.
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