July homes sales in Lucas and upper Wood counties increased by a meager 1.7% over July of last year, but in terms of actual sales numbers 2018 is proving to be a strong year for local residential real estate.
There were 588 homes sold in Lucas and upper Wood counties last month, according to monthly figures from the Toledo Regional Association of Realtors.
That followed 680 homes sold in June, 696 sold in May, and 590 sold in April for a total of 2,554 homes sold in the metro area over the last four months. There were 2,300 homes sold last year in the same period.
"July is always a real strong month. So from my perspective, things are still real strong. I don't see anything that's horrible in those numbers," said Doug Kwiatkowski, president of the Realtors association.
What did cause Kwiatkowski slight concern was a decrease in housing prices.
The Realtors group said the average home price dropped 2.5 percent to $157,518, while the median sales price dropped 2.1% to $132,000. The median means half the homes sold for above $132,000 and half sold for less.
"I'm not sure about those figures. We did see a lot of houses sold that were in the lower price markets," Kwiatkowski said.
Homes in the Toledo area continued to sell quickly as they have done now for two years. Houses for sale spent an average of just a little more than two months — 72 days to be exact — on the market, a decrease of 17.2% from a year ago. Last year at this time homes spent nearly three months on the market before selling.
The number of active listings fell to 2,460 in July, a drop of 8% from a year ago, and with a hot market that dropping inventory is causing frustration for both buyers and real estate agents.
"With the active listings decreasing and with us not seeing new inventory coming on, that will make the sellers' market even more competitive," Kwiatkowski said.
Another factor playing into the hands of sellers: rising interest rates, which could motivate some buyers still sitting on the sidelines to get out and buy before rates climb even higher.
This time last year the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 3.92%. Last month it was 4.54% and Kwiatkowski said it could end up between 5% and 6% by year's end.
"The fortunate thing is it's gone up slowly. It's not been erratic," he said. "Ten years ago it was up and down, really volatile."
If rates continue to climb slowly and methodically, Kwiatkowski said it should not affect the market much. He said he expects August sales numbers to exceed last year's total of 605 houses sold.
"The rate has gone up three-quarters of a percent but that hasn't affected anything. People are back to work, they're getting overtime, they're getting bonus checks. Those are the things that are going to get people to buy houses," he said.
