Good morning Ohioans! The dog days of summer seemingly came and went, and it's starting to feel a lot like fall, which means Ohio State football! Oddly enough this kicks off on a Thursday night at Minnesota, but the real action starts on Saturday September 11 against 11-ranked Oregon at Ohio Stadium. This will be our first matchup against the Ducks since the 2015 National Championship Game.
But as much as I love football, this is a real estate newsletter, and it's not quite football season yet. So without further adieu, check out these stats from last month.
For the past few months, the number of new homes hitting the market has been on the rise, helping reduce the seemingly unending inventory shortage. At the same time, home sales and home prices continued to rise, as the inventory increase still couldn't keep up with the surge in demand. July was different, however. The number of homes sold in July actually decreased by 0.5% from June and average home prices decreased by about 1%. Though small, this is a sign of a plateau in the seller's market that may be further exacerbated by the expected rise in interest rates announced by the Fed last week.
Michael Jones, 2021 President, Columbus REALTORS®, recently stated “It’s possible we’re seeing a change in the pace of housing activity as we head into the fall. The welcome increase in inventory is giving buyers more choices, as well as a little more flexibility to consider their options.”
With all that said, Ohio home prices are still at or around an all-time high. While there are signs of a plateau in the market, some of which is purely seasonal, the inventory shortage is likely to continue to some extent for another few years. After the 2008 recession, new home construction screeched to a halt and stayed near record-low levels for nearly a decade. In addition, this pushed people away from the trades so we have a severe shortage of plumbers, electricians, and carpenters. Despite demand being on the rise, there are still supply-side challenges that we're grappling with that likely won't balance out for another 5 to 10 years.
In other news, the Motley Fool recently released a study that showed average real estate commissions fell below 5% for the first time ever. While there's still a long way to go, it's a strong sign that the days of the 6 or 7% commission are coming to an end.
For more information on real estate trends or to learn how you can save thousands of dollars in commissions, contact us today or visit our website commoncents.homes.
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