Central Ohio Real Estate Market Starts to Boom After Years of Stagnation

The housing market in Central Ohio was stagnant for several years after the recession. However, recent reports indicate that the market is starting to gain traction. The Columbus REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service (MLS) showed that the number of new homes and condos on the market increased 15.2% between March and April and 7.4% year-over-year. Many experts are confident that the market is going to continue rising for the foreseeable future.

Housing Experts Surprised by Sudden Turnaround

The Central Ohio housing market didn’t fare well after the recession. Part of the reason may have beendue to the fact that the state unemployment rate was higher than the national average for several years. However, recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the benefit-from-housing-marketunemployment rate in the state is now on par with the rest of the country. This could be one of the factors that is driving the recent housing recovery.

Regardless of the driving factors behind the sudden uptick in housing sales, housing experts throughout the state are highly encouraged by the recent developments.  Kathy Shiflet, President of Columbus REALTORS®, is among the optimistic experts.

“Central Ohio sellers have gotten the message that it’s truly a great time to put your home on the market, which was made apparent by the significant number of new homes listed in April,” Shiflet stated on her company’s website. “It’s clear the central Ohio housing market is really beginning to heat up!”

Both housing prices and sales have clearly risen. If job creation and other stimulus efforts are continued, then the trend will probably be sustainable for the near future.

Recovery Benefits Sellers Over Buyers

While the housing recovery is encouraging overall, sellers are ultimately the ones benefiting from it. The average home price rose 4.4% from the previous month, which limits opportunities for prospective buyers that were seeking a bargain.

Many real estate professionals report that the recovery has led to bidding wars between buyers, which could create frustrations for people that are trying to find a new home. According  to the Columbus Dispatch¸ the bidding wars are most concentrated in Central Ohio cities such as Upper Arlington and Clintonville.

Ken Wightman, an agent for Berkshire Hathaway, acknowledged that sellers and their agents are ultimately the beneficiaries of the new trend. “When we put a property on the market now, we’ll get multiple bids — that’s automatic,” he said.

Sellers realize that they are the ones holding the cards in the current market. They are giving buyers a deadline to give their best offer.