The Ohio Association of Realtors says statewide the average sales price of an Ohio house went up 2.6 percent between 2009 and 2010. Break it down by region and the numbers still look good: In Cincinnati that year-to-year average price went up 4.9 percent, Columbus 1.3 percent and in NE Ohio, six percent. But like any set of housing numbers these days, there are plenty of things in it that make you go, "hmmmm." For one, the total number of houses sold in most markets around the state keeps dropping, down 4 percent from 2009 which, if you need a reminder, was not a great year for home sales. And 2010 had the benefit of the federal homebuyers tax credit which helped boost home sales in the first half of last year.
If we focus in on the state's largest county, Cuyahoga, the numbers are similar. Cleveland State University Professor Brian Mikelbank collects the county's sales numbers and he says there are clues if you look at the number of houses being sold at deep discounts right out of foreclosure that drive down average prices. His data shows that the number of houses being sold out of foreclosure has fallen by nearly half in the last 18 months.
"What we don't know though is what's happening to these discounted properties," Mikelbank says. "It would be great if the market is just clearing the inventory of them. It would not be great if they're being pulled from the market or they aren't even being put up for sale because they are unsellable."
Mikelbank also says the total number of homes sold in Cuyahoga County in the fall of 2010 is the lowest they've been in at least ten years. He says perhaps many people have been waiting to sell until home prices recover. The test will be in the next few months as the home buying season gets under way.
Mhari Saito, 90.3.