Existing home sales increased in February on the local level, but declined on the state and national levels. Jim Letizia reports.
The National Association of Realtors says exisitng home sales fell 7.1 percent last month as compared with January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.08 million. The group says low home inventories were a drag on the market. The national housing market enters the traditional spring buying season with relatively few properties listed for sale, even as steady job gains and low mortgage rates have bolstered demand. The Ohio Association of Realtors says February sales fell 3.9 percent from January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of more than 138 thousand. The Columbus Realtors trade association says existing home sale in February rose by nearly 17 percent from January, with more than 26 hundred units on the market in its multi-county region. The group says the traditional Spring seasonal increase arrived early. Locally, the average sale price of a home in February was 185 thousand dollars, up half a point from January. Statewide, the average sale price was nearly 142 thousand dollars, up nearly 5 thousand from the previous month. Nationally, the median sale price was nearly 211 thousand dollars, down by three thousand from January.
