Pickings slim for area home shoppers
As spring home-buying season approaches, central Ohio realestate agents wonder: What exactly are shoppers going to buy?
The number of Columbus-area homes on the market has dropped to a record low, and the problem is acute on the moreaffordable end of the price spectrum.
As of Wednesday, central Ohio had 3,762 homes available to buy; that was fewer than half the number on the market at this point three years ago.
“If you thought inventory couldn’t possibly get any lower, it definitely did,” said Columbus Realtors President Mic Gordon.
Plentiful and eager buyers snap up properties the moment they come on the market, especially if the homes are priced at less than $300,000 in attractive neighborhoods.
Kelsey Jones, a 25-year-old agent with Real Estate Technology Partners, understands firsthand the frustration.
Jones thought she had found her perfect first home last month in Worthington’s Colonial Hills neighborhood: a charming, 979-square-foot, two-bedroom, onebath home, with no basement and no garage, listed for $175,000. To be safe, Jones offered $180,000 and agreed to waive her 3 percent commission.
“I got beat out by a buyer who put in an offer at $190,000 and agreed to buy the house as is,” Jones said. “It’s across the board. That’s what you have to do now.”
Soon after, Jones offered $190,000 for a three-bedroom home on Morse Road in northern Clintonville — and, despite her reservations, also agreed to buy the house “as is.” Instead, the sellers counter-offered for $195,000, even though they had listed the house at $189,900.
“They had another offer for more money,” said Jones, who passed on that house.
Such scenes play out daily in central Ohio, especially for affordable homes, which commonly attract multiple offers within days.
“In that price range, from $100,000 to $200,000, it’s very difficult,” said Don Bush, an agent with HER Realtors.
“It’s really a challenge for buyers, especially the past two weeks. Homes just fly off the shelf,” Bush added. “We estimate Sales Median price Days on market Akron/Cleveland Cincinnati Dayton Toledo 1,669 $154,000 66 that we have about four buyers for every house we sell.”
According to the real-estate listing website Trulia, the number of “starter homes” on the market in the Columbus area has dropped almost 60 percent in the past five years, the largest decline of any major Ohio city.
Another way of looking at the problem: The median price of a home listed for sale in central Ohio is $234,900, but the median price of homes that sold in February is $161,900. In other words: Buyers want homes that cost far less than the ones being offered.
The lack of affordable homes goes well beyond Columbus. Lawrence Yun, chief economist with the National Association of Realtors, responded to Wednesday’s report of a 3.7 percent drop in sales of existing U.S. home in February by blaming a shortage of affordable homes.
“Realtors are reporting stronger foot traffic from a year ago, but low supply in the affordable price range continues to be the pest that’s pushing up price growth and pressuring the budgets of prospective buyers,” Yun said.
Agents such as Jones doubt that the situation will improve when more buyers hit the streets in a few weeks.
“It’s the middle of March,” she said. “We’re gearing up for the real-estate season, and it’s already insane. I can’t imagine what it’s going to look like this year.”