Cleveland, Northeast OH Area Real Estate Market October 2013

According to the Northeast Ohio Regional Multiple Listing Service (NORMLS) and an article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper, homes sales in the region increased from September to October. Lower home inventory, higher rental prices and higher buyer demand due to low (but climbing) interest rates, have been driving this increase in activity and increase in sales prices over the past year or so.

Sales comparing October 2012 to October 2013 still show increasing sales figures.  Among the 15 counties in Northeast Ohio, single family home sales are up 14.9% and 10.4% for condominium sales. 

By comparison, Northeast Ohio is showing a 3.8% price increase from last year, with the state of Ohio's at 2.3%. Ohio's sales volume increase was also up by over 8% from October 2012.  The US market saw a 12.8% increase in sales price from the year before, and is showing a sales volume decrease of 3.2%.  Ohio and Northeast Ohio's price increases have stabilized recently, while the US sales prices continue to rise at a higher rate, which has been historically the case in our area compared with the nation.  There is still a concern that home prices are rising faster than income growth.

The key point here is that the market is starting to stabilize and shifting to a seller's market.  Sellers are getting more for their homes than last year, with buyers paying a bit more to purchase a home to take advantage of the low interest rates.  Buyers should note that interest rates have decreased slightly, hovering around 4.3%. 

This is a great time for buyers who also have a home to sell, because rates are still relatively low on the buying side, but home values have risen in many areas to improve the financial return on the selling side.  If the economy continues to improve, buyers in the current market will be able to realize value gains for the homes they purchase as well.