April home sales fall as inventory shrinks

Rising home prices and a shortage of properties for sale pushed many central Ohio shoppers out of the housing market in April, leading to a sharp drop in home sales.

Sales slipped 10.9 percent compared to last April, the largest decline since November 2014.

Real-estate officials say demand remains strong, but shoppers can’t find homes. At the end of April, 4,338 homes were listed for sale in central Ohio, 19 percent less than a year ago.

“There’s little doubt that the number of home sales would have been higher had we had more inventory,” said Mic Gordon, president of the Columbus Realtors trade group.

At the current sales pace, all central Ohio homes for sale would be gone in less than two months, well below the six-month supply considered balanced between buyers and sellers.

The shortage of homes has led to properties throughout central Ohio selling in days, often above the asking price as buyers bid up prices. The median sales price of a central Ohio home in April was $180,000, 7.1 percent above a year ago and a record for the month.

The process has become so frustrating that some agents are taking an extraordinary step for the industry: suggesting that some buyers hold off.

“This is something I never thought I would say to any of my buyers,” Paul George, an agent with Keller Williams Greater Columbus Realty, wrote in a recent blog posting. “I am advising some buyers to not buy a home right now.”

George said he is recommending that some buyers wait a month or two, when the market might cool down, to avoid both frustration and overpaying for homes.

“It’s always an unknown in the future,” he said in an interview. “You know interest rates will go up, but I don’t think buyers will pay as much as they are now.”

Other experts think buyers might simply need to get used to the status quo.

“For patient buyers willing to endure the competition and frustration, conditions may ease somewhat in a few months as owners of those listings left over from the spring season get antsy for a sale and consider price cuts,” said Zillow Chief Economist Svenja Gudell.

“But in reality, these conditions — tight inventory, high demand and rising prices — look to be with us for a while to come, and buyers should get used to this new normal.”

If it’s any comfort to central Ohio buyers, they aren’t alone. Inventory shortages led to rising prices and sales declines throughout the state and nation in April.

Statewide sales fell 6.6 percent from last April and prices rose 5 percent.

Nationally, sales declined 2.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million while prices rose 6 percent.

“Demand is easily outstripping supply in most of the country, and it’s stymieing many prospective buyers from finding a home to purchase,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist with the National Association of Realtors.