Northeast Ohio home sales down 4.9% in June; prices up

June home sales couldn't keep pace with last year's levels.

Regional home purchases slipped 4.9%, when compared with June 2017, according to listing-service data spanning 18 counties. Summit County, home to Akron, posted the sharpest decline, a 13.9% drop from a year before. Sales also fell off notably in Geauga, Lorain, Portage and Trumbull counties.

In Cuyahoga County, June sales were nearly flat, down 0.8%.

Meanwhile, sales perked up in Mahoning and Stark counties, bucking what appears to be a slight mid-year softening.

Cleveland

Real estate groups have been pointing to scarce inventory as a barrier to home-sales growth. Existing homeowners are staying put longer, and new construction hasn't rebounded to pre-recession levels. Rising prices and higher mortgage rates also are making it harder for buyers — particularly first-time buyers seeking out less costly properties — to find and consummate deals.

In Northeast Ohio, new listings are down 2.9% this year, based on January-through-June data from Yes MLS, the regional listing service. And available homes are selling faster. Houses purchased last month spent an average of 65 days on the market, down from 72 days in mid-2017.

Buyers are paying more for those properties. The average sale price for a house in the region rose to $181,275 last month, a 3.3% increase from a year before. Condos — a meager slice of the local housing market — sold for an average price of $151,018, a 5.7% annual gain.

Among the region's more populous counties, with busier housing markets, Lake County experienced the steepest annual gain in average sale price — 12.8%, to $187,354 in June.

Cuyahoga County's average sale price was up 4.4%, to $186,134. In Summit County, buyers drove June's average sale price to $186,778, a 3.3% gain.

Prices and sales rose from May to June, following typical seasonal trends.

Tribune Content Agency
Purchase Home prices Housing markets Real estate Ohio
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