Sales of existing homes rose last month in central Ohio as compared with February, but declined statewide and across the country.
Jim Letizia reports.
The Columbus Realtors trade association says nearly 18 hundred existing homes were sold in its multi-county region in March. That is an increase of 24 percent from February, but a decline as compared with January, when more than 13 hundred homes were sold. The association says sellers waited until the cold weather passed in order to put their homes on the market. The Ohio Association of Reatlors says existing home sales statewide fell by 2.3 percent in March, due to a tight inventory and lingering cold winter weather. The National Association of Realtors says sales of existing homes across the country fell by two-tenths of a percent to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 4.59 million. That is the lowest level since July 2012 and the seventh decline in the past eight months. The association says fewer homes for sale, higher mortgage rates and rising prices have contributed to lower sales since last summer.
