Metro Toledo's August home sales rose 4.3% from a year ago, according to new figures from the Toledo Regional Association of Realtors.
Overall, the area's housing market has been improving this year. Home sales have increased 4.8% through the first eight months, the Realtors group said.
Last month, there were 637 homes sold in Lucas County and upper Wood County, figures showed.
Home prices were up significantly.
The median home price for the Toledo area rose to $139,000 in August, an increase of 13% over August, 2017. The average home sales price increased 13.2% to $168,252.
Inventory, which has been a problem for nearly two years, showed no signs of improving.
Homes that sold in August had spent just 79 days on the market, which was an 11.2% decrease from the same month a year earlier. Meanwhile, active listings on the association's multiple listing service dropped 4.9% to 2,489 listings.
Since Jan. 1, 3,816 homes have sold in the Toledo area.
Between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31, the median sale price of homes was $115,500, an increase of 4.8%. The average sales price during those eight months was $140,217, a 3.2% increase over the first eight months of 2017.
From January through last month, homes that sold spent an average of 86 days on the market, which was a decrease of 9.5% from the year before. Active listings fell nearly 1% to 5,320 on the MLS.
The statistics provided a strong picture for home sellers.
New listings decreased nearly 1% and inventory fell 10.3% for single-family homes. The months supply of inventory decreased 15.2% for single family homes and 7% for condo-villa homes.
But the Realtors association also noted some concerns in its latest monthly report.
The National Association of Home Builders reported a 10-year low on housing affordability created by rising home prices, higher interest rates and increasing costs of building materials.
Nationally, the median home price rose 6% in the last 12 months while household incomes rose just 2.6%, creating a gap in affordability that could lead to fewer sales in the middle to high-middle price ranges in some markets, the local Realtors report said.
