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January Home Sales Decline

Existing home sales fell last month in central Ohio, the rest of the state and the nation. 

Realtors are blaming the decreases on cold weather and tight supplies. Jim Letizia reports.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist with the National Association of Realtors, says sales fell across all four regions of the U.S., but the biggest decline occurred in the West where the weather is warmer. He says other factors in the decline include rising mortgage rates and rising premiums for flood insurance. 

He says existing U.S. home sales fell by 5.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million, the lowest level in 18 months. The Columbus Realtors trade association says 13 hundred 37 existing homes were sold in January, down from more than 17 hundred in December. The group says that could create a potential back log of sales in the spring. Statewide, the Ohio Association of Realtors says existing home sales fell by 5.1 percent from December. Nearly 120 thousand Ohio homes were sold, down from more than 126 thousand the previous month. The median sale price of an existing home in central Ohio fell by roughly 17 thousand to more than 159 thousand dollars last month as compared with December. Statewide, the median price fell by roughly 12 thousand to more than 127 thousand dollars in January as compared with the previous month. Nationally, the median sale price in January was nearly 189 thousand dollars, up 11 percent from the same month a year ago.

Jim has been with WCBE since 1996. Before that he worked as a reporter at another Columbus radio station, and for three newspapers in Southwest Florida.
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