First Posted: 2/22/2015
LIMA — With the housing market’s post-recession rebound, now may be the time for some to achieve the “American Dream” and buy a home.
Interest rates are low, what some call “the best they’ve been,” and that means “people get a lot of house for the money,” said Greg Hrabcak, president of The Ohio Association of Realtors.
“I think buyers have a great market,” he said.
But so, it seems, do sellers.
“When inventory is down, I think that favors sellers because there’s more competition for less product,” Hrabcak said.
Inventory is down in the Lima and Bluffton markets, said Kate Shulaw, real estate agent with Real Living CCR, making it a “seller’s market” in her opinion.
The shortage of houses began in late 2013, or early 2014, she said, and she thinks it will continue.
It’s a good time to sell in the area, as average days a house stays on the market is between 90 and 120, Shulaw said.
If a house is reasonably priced, someone will snatch it up, Hrabcak said.
More houses were sold in January in the West Central Ohio region than in January 2014, according to OAR.
In January in the region, which includes Allen, Auglaize, Hardin, Mercer, Putnam and Van Wert counties, there was an 18.6 percent increase in properties sold compared with the same month in 2014, according to OAR. The West Central region’s percent of increase was the second highest in the state, second only to Lancaster, which came in with 28.6 percent.
In Ohio as a whole, January’s percent increase from December was 1.3 percent, according to OAR. There were 83 properties sold in the West Central region in January, compared with 7,085 sold in Ohio.
Adam DeSanctis, spokesperson for the National Association of Realtors, anticipates that the job market and economic improvement will raise home sales again this year.
“Home sales last year, of course, were a little bit down from the year before but generally speaking, as consumers feel better about their financial situation [and] about the job market, they’re more inclined to purchase a home,” he said.
Average sale prices are also up in the area, compared to this time last year, according to OAR.
In January 2014, the average price was $99,503 in the West Central region, and during the year, there was an 8.4 percent increase in sale price, with the average price in January 2015 ending up at $107,869.
In the state, January’s average home price of $137,464 shows an 8 percent increase from the $127,279 amount shown during the month last year, according to OAR.
Home prices increasing may be problematic for the market, as people’s incomes haven’t risen with them over the past few years, DeSanctis said.
“That’s where you run into affordability issues,” he said.
Though the Lima market favors sellers, the market a little farther north hasn’t in quite some time, said Dan Irwin, manager of the Ottawa office of Irwin Real Estate.
“In Putnam County the inventory of homes for sale is probably pretty even with people out there buying,” he said. “It’s stable,” with the market leaning a little more toward buyers.
Though, “it’s starting to swing a little more toward the sellers,” he said.
Overall, Hrabcak said the Ohio market is “well-positioned” for home owners.
“We’re experiencing steady price growth and attractive interest rates,” he said in a statement. “We remain hopeful that the low inventories of homes currently being marketed for sale will rise as we head into the spring market.”
The local housing market also offers “a large reason to be real optimistic,” Hrabcak said.
As for the cause, Hrabcak thinks “there have been some manufacturing announcements and things that Lima benefits from, being within an area of a lot of activity and some growth in that sector.”
Recent home sales in the state show a “balanced and traditional marketplace,” said Hrabcak, in a statement.
“We are continuing to make progress in our ongoing effort to rebuild a solid foundation for the housing sector — one that is able to withstand the cyclical ebbs and flows in activity that occur,” he said.
