Welcome to Summer, Columbus (or should we say Flavortown?)...the sun is shining, the fireflies are abundant, and...well, it's still 2020. The consistent story in real estate thus far has been low home inventory due to COVID-19. Many homeowners who do not need to sell, simply do not feel comfortable putting their homes on the market. In May, just 3,232 new homes hit the MLS, a 27% decrease from May 2019.
Conversely, we saw 3,552 homes home go into contract last month, roughly 10% more than the number of new listings. This disparity in the number of homes selling versus new listings is rare and is primarily driven by extremely low inventory, but also record-low mortgage rates, which remain near all-time lows.
As a fan of economics, I love seeing these trends. It's likey Econ 101 all over again where you see the direct relationships between supply, demand, and pricing. In this case, COVID-19 is lowering the home supply, low-interest rates are increasing home demand, and therefore prices are on the rise. Home prices in Central Ohio hit an all-time high last month, with an average sale price of $258,688, a 2% increase over May 2019. The average price per square foot increased by nearly 5% to $141.48. Time on the MLS until a sale also hit an all-time low (again) at just 28 days on market.
With all that said, warmer weather and a reopening of the economy changed the trajectory of this trend starting the week before Memorial Day Weekend. While not all of the data for June is in, we can say for certain that the number of new listings increased week over week for most of June until June 22, when we yet again saw a sharp drop. This likely coincides with an uptick in positive COVID-19 tests. While the outlook is bleak in many places, I'm cautiously optimistic that Ohio will fair well in what appears to be a second wave of COVID-19.
NEW LISTINGS BY WEEK
5/25 - 679
6/1 - 796
6/8 - 821
6/15 - 847
6/22 - 806
Until next time, stay healthy Columbus. If you have any questions or are interested in how you can save thousands of dollars when selling your home, please contact us or visit www.commoncents614.com.
Columbus Area Housing Market Statistics
May 2020 - May 2019
(Data by columbusrealtors.com)
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