Columbus still state’s most-expensive city
Median price of a central Ohio home is $286,700
Columbus remains the most-expensive metro area in the state, even though Cleveland homes rose more in price at the end of the year, according to data released Thursday.
The median price of a central Ohio home was $286,700 during the last three months of the year, followed by the Cincinnati area, at $255,300, according to figures from the National Association of Realtors.
Rounding out Ohio metro areas: Cleveland, $208,700; Dayton, $200,700; Akron, $192,300; Canton, $169,600; Toledo, $159,300; and Youngstown, $135,500.
Even though prices in the Columbus area were the highest in the state, Cleveland-area homes saw the biggest price gains at the end of the year. Cleveland-area home prices rose 6.6% from the fourth quarter of 2021 to the fourth quarter of 2022, while Columbus-area prices rose 5.5%.
Prices dropped in two Ohio metro areas at the end of 2021, illustrating a slowdown of the housing market. Canton-area prices fell 3.3% while those in Youngstown slipped 0.7%.
About 90% of U.S. metro areas saw price gains in the fourth quarter. The median price of homes in the 186 areas in the report rose 4% to $378,700, a farmore-modest gain than the 8.6% hike seen the previous year.
“A slowdown in home prices is underway and welcomed, particularly as the typical home price has risen 42% in the past three years,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the Realtors' association said in a news release. “Far fewer metro markets experienced double-digit price gains in the latest quarter.”
Those who think Columbus-area prices have gotten out of control can take heart: With a median sales price of $286,700, Columbus remains more affordable than most of its peers, including Austin ($478,900), Charlotte ($395,500) Indianapolis ($297,200), Kansas City ($298,200), Milwaukee ($335,000), and Nashville ($400,000).
Four U.S. metro areas had median sales prices over $1 million during the fourth quarter, the top three of them in California: San Jose ($1.58 million); San Francisco ($1.23 million); Anaheim ($1.13 million); and Honolulu ($1.09 million).
jweiker@dispatch.com