The average sale price of a home in 2010 was $158,893, just 0.6 percent lower than the average price of homes sold in 2009. However, the average price of homes sold in 2009 was 2.4 percent lower than 2008 which was 5.1 percent lower than 2007.

“Our market saw average sale price increases for eight of the 12 months of 2010,” says CBR’s 2011 President Rick Benjamin. “As we’ve experienced annual decreases in our average sale price since 2005, we see ending the year just half a point lower than 2009 as a positive for central Ohio homeowners.”

The 1,460 homes sold in December 2010 is just 0.3 percent lower than the number of homes sold in December of 2009. Annual 2010 home sales (19,676) finished 2.8 percent behind 2009 (20,235).

“There’s no question the home buyer tax credits had a significant affect on last year’s home sales,” adds Benjamin. “Providing home buyers with a substantial monetary incentive really helped to energize the market in the first half of 2010.”

“Homes in contract (which are expected to close in January or February) are up slightly from the previous year suggesting that home sales in the first of the year could be strong.”

Homes spent an average of 90 days on the market, a reduction of seven days from the average time to sell a home in 2009.

In December 2010, the month’s supply of homes was down to 9.93, the lowest since last June. Month’s supply is the ratio of inventory to sales which takes into account both supply and demand. A healthy market has a 6.5 to 7-month supply of homes, meaning if no new homes were added to the market, it would take about 6.5 or 7 months to sell all the available homes.

The Columbus Board of REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service (MLS) serves all of Franklin, Delaware, Fayette, Madison, Morrow, Pickaway and Union Counties and parts of Champaign, Clark, Fairfield, Hocking, Knox, Licking, Logan, Marion, Muskingham, Perry and Ross Counties.

Click here for additional central Ohio housing statistics.
Click here for Ohio home sales statistics
Click here for the national home sales release

Information provided and permission to reprint this article by Columbus Board of Realtors.

By Sue Lusk-Gleich, 2010 CBR President

The growth and innovation that is happening in Central Ohio at this time is incredible.

Central Ohio is home to (15) Fortune 1000 companies, (6) Fortune 500 companies and has been ranked first among the Top 10 Up-and-Coming Tech Cities. We’ve been named the best metro area for business and top “City of the Fortune” for international investment. The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium was ranked first in the nation and COSI the number one science center in the country. We’re home top-rated ballpark, college president and research institute along with nine public high schools that are rated in the top five percent nationwide.

As our profile increases, the real estate industry will expand. I attended the Business First Power Breakfast on Feb. 16, 2010 and was impressed by the numerous medical expansion projects planned in greater Columbus.

ProjectOne at the Ohio State University’s Medical Center is a one billion dollar cancer hospital and critical care tower with planned completion in 2014, which will bring 10,000 jobs to the Columbus region, 7,000 of those high-level positions.

Nationwide Children’s Hospital master facilities projects will be completed in 2012, doubling the hospital’s size, that will have new state of the art clinical and research facilities. The construction alone will bring 1.3 billion dollars to the community.

OhioHealth and Mt. Carmel Health System are planning expansions in central Ohio that will benefit the real estate community along with Hplex Solutions structuring the four major ambulatory facilities in Franklin County.

All in all, the health care systems in central Ohio are extremely financially sound with an annual gross revenue of 9.4 billion dollars and expansions that will grow that amount in the future. The Columbus Chamber of Commerce Breakfast, which featured and highlighted plans to build a better Columbus by 2020, was held on Feb. 24, 2010. Columbus2020! is a community-driven vision and strategic plan for economic development in Central Ohio. The hallmarks of this plan are sustainable vision and bold goals with its primary focus on the business segment of the economy.

Eighty percent of growth comes from already-existing businesses, so part of Columbus2020!’s strategy is to concentrate on retention and expansion of existing companies while helping to grow the 40,000 small enterprises here in central Ohio. Part of the vision is to advance economic development by thinking and acting regionally, thereby developing a more sustainable economic future in central Ohio.

The Columbus Chamber of Commerce and the business community have built a development model founded on our city’s unique businesses, arts, education, suburbs, and communities. Some of the goals put forth by Columbus2020! include a 40 percent increase in per capita income, pushing the city to become a top ten community in economic development and fueling the creation of 180,000 net new jobs. Columbus2020! operates on the theory that the challenges we face create opportunities for economic growth. This plan will take our region to the next level and be the quarterback for Columbus development, serving existing businesses and on their needs.

Columbus2020!’s cooperative efforts have shown real results. One of the successes was the retention of OSCC on the east side of Columbus. The Chamber’s Team OSCC, a coalition of business, government and civic leaders advocated the retention and growth of the Defense Supply Center Columbus (Columbus’ twelfth largest employer). Because the Department of Defense was conducting a national review of all of its bases, the 6,100 jobs at DSCC were at risk. After a $1 million campaign to advocate DSCC was deployed, the Pentagon announced that DSCC would not only remain open, but would also grow up to 2,000 jobs.

Another result of this collaborative venture was Rickenbacker Airport and Industrial Park which will help the Columbus region on the global stage. Through cooperative negotiation, a deal was struck that provides sewer and water service to this facility without annexation to Columbus. This will help Rickenbacker grow and raise our profile on the worldwide level.

JP Morgan Chase and their expansion to make central Ohio their home is another testament to regional cooperative development.

Also bright spot in Columbus improvement, Tech Columbus is working with 150 companies in the region and accelerating the growth of local businesses. The numbers of companies coming to Tech Columbus over the last 3 years has increased exponentially.

This year is a year of transition, launching us to the next steps that encourage and incorporate the business community, local governments, educators and residents to participate in a plan of action for the benefit of the community. All local residents and businesses have a vested interest in the Columbus2020! plan. It is all about joint marketing efforts and working together to foster improvements that help us all.

That philosophy applies not only to fiscal development but to our work as REALTORS®. Our network of real estate professionals benefits from business innovation and from our collaborative work with each other. These are the ties that create the extremely positive outlook for our continued and future growth and success in central Ohio.