Central Ohio Housing Report – September 2021

The highest number of new listings came on the market in the third quarter of 2021. The last time this many homes were listed in a single quarter was 2006! Of those new listings almost 90 percent went into contract. Read the entire market report below for more interesting facts about central Ohio housing.

Record Listings & Sales in 3rd Quarter

Although inventory has been decreasing for the better part of 12 years, the central Ohio housing market saw year over year gains in the third quarter resulting in record home sales.

Third quarter saw 12,291 homes added to the market, which was almost 13 percent higher than 2020 (10,903). This is the highest number of new listings added in a quarter since 2006 when total inventory was over 18,600 and REALTORS® were selling 53 percent of the new listings.

Last quarter, home sales averaged over 3,600 as REALTORS® sold almost 90 percent of the new listings setting new records for home sales in central Ohio.

“Tight inventory over the past several years created a very competitive market causing some angst for many home buyers,” said Michael Jones, 2021 President, Columbus REALTORS®. “The increase in new listings has been a benefit and, as a result, we saw significant increases in homes that went into contract or have already sold.”

The average sale price increased 8.5 percent to $301,572 and the median price was $269,900 in September, a gain of 12.5 percent. Year to date, the average sale price was $298,817 and the median sale price was $260,000, up 13.5 percent and 13.0 percent respectively.

Conventional financing still reigns with almost 64 percent of the home sales in 2021.

The share of homes that sold for cash, versus financing, is just over 20 percent this year which is 1.5 percent more than in 2016, but still 7.3 percent fewer than homes sold a decade ago.

“Cash sales have been credited as the reason many home buyers have been at a disadvantage in getting the winning contract,” said Jones. “However, this new data suggests that buyers seeking financing still dominate the lion’s share of home sales and can be successfully competitive.”

The time it took to sell a home rose to 14 days last month.

Homes under $350,000 sold in an average of 12 days. Homes sold between $350,000 and $500,000 took about 15 days to sell. Homes in the $500,000 to $700,000 price range sold in an average of 19 days, and homes over $700,000 were on the market for an average of 26 days.

For the first three quarters of 2021, homes have sold in an average of 16 days. Breaking this down by price range, homes under $350,000 sold in an average of 13 days. Homes priced $350,000 -$500,000 took 17 days. Homes between $500,000 and $700,000 took 25 days to sell and homes over $700,000 sold in an average of 36 days.

September 2021 Housing Report

Columbus REALTORS® is comprised of almost 9,500 real estate professionals engaged in residential sales and leasing, commercial sales and leasing, property management, appraisal, consultation, real estate syndication, land development and more.

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