As prices climbed, the number of homes sold in Northeast Ohio dipped from year-ago levels in March.
Sales of single-family homes dropped 3.2%, from 3,391 in March 2018 to 3,282 last month, according to data on new and existing home sales for an 18-county region tracked by multiple-listing service Yes-MLS. At the same time, the average sale price for single-family homes rose 8.5% from a year ago, to $166,308.
Both locally and nationally, rising prices have contributed to lagging home sales. Last year in Northeast Ohio, the average sale price increased more than 5% from the year before, while sales were basically flat. Those in the market for a new home have faced affordability challenges and a limited supply of available properties. Experts had expected those conditions to ease somewhat this year, but that was apparently not the case last month.
Inventory tightened, with the number of new listings dipping 1.8% from a year ago. Single-family houses also spent fewer days on the market, with average market time down to 78 days from 85 days last March.
Condominium sales in the region were down 10.7% from year-ago levels, while average sale price rose 7.6% to $143,787.
In Cuyahoga County, the region's largest market, the story was similar. The number of sales dropped 7.8%, while the average sale price jumped 8.6% to $168,662. Homes spent four fewer days on the market than they did a year ago, and the number of new listings was basically flat.
In Summit County, these trends were even more pronounced. Home sales fell off 8.8% from last March as the average sale price in the county rose 12.2%, to $167,534. Homes spent 12 fewer days on the market and new listings were down 12%.
In counties with at least 100 sales for the month, home sales dropped and average price rose in several: Stark, Portage, Lorain and Lake. Bucking that trend were Mahoning, Medina and Trumbull counties, where both sales and prices were up.
Homes in Northeast Ohio sold for as much as $1.2 million and as little as $3,000.
For the first three months of the year, single-family homes sales in the region are up 0.7% and average sale price is up 7.1% from the same period last year.
State and national home-sale data for March are due out next week.
