Home sales set record before year’s end

Columbus-area shoppers bought so many homes in November that total sales for the year have already set a record, 11 months into the year.

More than 3,000 homes in Greater Columbus changed hands during the month, 9.3% more than last November, and a record for the month, according to the Columbus Realtors trade association. Including those sales, 33,548 homes have sold so far this year in the Columbus area, topping last year’s 33,431, the previous record.

Buyers remained undeterred by climbing prices.

The median sales price of a Greater Columbus home in November was $261,835, 11.4% above November 2020. For the first 11 months of the year, prices are up 12.6% in the area.

Demand – driven by low interest rates, a rise in disposable income and a pandemic desire for more space – continues to outpace supply, leading to intense competition and soaring prices.

Buyers received a bit of good news in November, however, as more Columbus-area homeowners stuck a for-sale sign in their yard. During the month, 2,628 central Ohio homes were listed, up 12.2% from last November.

“The last time we had this many new listings was in 2010 when there were 17,471 homes for sale and sales were less than half of what they are today,” Columbus Realtors President Michael Jones said in a news release.

“We are not seeing fewer homes being listed, we’re seeing an exponential increase in the number of folks looking to buy in central Ohio.”

Homes in Greater Columbus spent an average of 17 days on the market before selling during November, down from 20 days last year.

Statewide, sales rose 5.5% from a year ago while prices climbed 10.1%. Nationally, sales rose 1.9% while prices rose 13.9% from a year ago.

“Determined buyers were able to land housing before mortgage rates rise further in the coming months,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist with the National Association of Realtors, said in a news release. “Locking in a constant and firm mortgage payment motivated many consumers who grew weary of escalating rents over the last year.”

Exhausted home shoppers found little relief in November’s housing numbers. Columbus-area buyers in particular should expect fierce competition and escalating prices to continue in 2022 – Realtor.com has projected that the area will be one of the nation’s five hottest housing markets in 2022.

“Underlying demand conditions remain supportive of continued strong sales: solid job growth, rising incomes, an ongoing desire for ‘space’ and low mortgage rates,” Nationwide Chief Economist David Berson sdaid. “We expect that these positive factors will remain in place next year, although moderating some.” jweiker@dispatch.com @Jimweiker