Home sales fell sharply

But prices, demand appear to be unaffected by the virus pandemic.

Homes sales in the Dayton area sharply dropped in May due to Ohio’s shelter-in-place order put in place because of the new coronavirus, but local real estate agents don’t expect that to last.

Sales of single-family homes and condominiums last month totaled 1,285, a 25% decrease from the 1,720 sales reported in May 2019, Dayton Realtors reported. Ohio home sales also saw a similar drop in May.

“The economic slowdown caused by the state’s Stay-At-Home order from late March into May has understandably caused a temporary disruption to home sales activity,” said Ohio Realtors President Chris Reese in a statement. “It’s important to note that the listings that are on the market are attracting buyers and boosting home prices.

“Record-low mortgage rates, which are likely to remain in place for the rest of the year, will be the key factor driving housing demand as Ohio’s economy reopens,” Reese added. “Still, more listings

and increased home construction will be critical in meeting market demands.”

Although sales were down, prices were seemingly unaffected by COVID-19. May’s median sales price were $166,900, up 7% from the previous year. The average price of $188,935 also rose, increasing 4%, according to Dayton Realtors.

Mark Davison of Sibcy

Cline Realtors said late May and June sales have been strong locally. He said the market is flush with buyers ready to buy homes.

“I believe we’ll see some all-time sales highs in June and July. It’s really a sellers market right now,” Davison said.

He said with low inventory, sellers are getting multiple offers quickly and many over the selling price.

“I had a client who was outbid by $13,000 over the asking price last week,” Davison

said.

For the first five months, there have been 5,743 sales reported, a 7.5 percent decrease from 2019 when 6,212 transactions occurred over the same period.

The number of homes available to sell in the Dayton area was down seven percent in May, according to Dayton Realtors. There were 1,740 new listings added in May.

Davison recommended buyers have pre-approval letters from the bank and jump on a house if they like it. For sellers, he said they should be prepared to show their home immediately.

Sellers are also getting more for their homes than six months ago, Davison said. A home in Tipp City was evaluated for a selling price of $200,000 in December. Today, Davison recommended the sellers ask $245,000 for the home.

“The shortage of homes is pushing the market up,” he said.

Davison predicted the

Dayton market will see an increase of foreclosed homes go on the market in the next 90 days. He said banks gave people 90 days to pay their mortgage and most of that delay will end in June.

The National Association of Realtors said Monday that the monthly decline pushed sales down to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.91 million, the slowest pace since a home buyers tax credit expired in October 2010.

Sales fell in all regions of the country, with the biggest decline coming in the Northeast where virus infections were especially heavy.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the Realtors, said based on anecdotal reports, he believed May could turn out to be the bottom for the housing market with sales showing a V-shaped recovery in coming months. However, many private economists believe the recovery from the disruptions caused by the coronavirus could take much longer.