Columbus housing market heats up, especially for less expensive homes

An April surge promises a strong jump in housing prices as homes, especially those on the lower end of the price range, turn over in days.
During April, homes under $350,000 averaged 26 days on the market – a third of the time on the market for that category five years ago, according to data from Columbus Realtors. Homes between the $350,000 mark and $500,000 are selling in 48 days, while homes ranging from $500,000 to $700,000 are on the market an average of 65 days.
“As market conditions are particularly advantageous for homes in the more affordable price range, those homeowners should seriously consider listing their home right now,” John Myers, Columbus Realtors president, said in a statement. “That would also help many folks looking to buy right now, especially our first-time home buyers trying hard to capture the dream of home ownership.”
Meanwhile, Columbus cooled a bit on Realtor.com’s April housing market index, falling to fourth-hottest metro area in the nation by number of hits to listings on its site and home turnover. The city had been the hottest housing market in the nation according to its March numbers.
Affordability of markets like Columbus are bringing a surge in interest compared to the pricier coasts, Realtor.com analyst Sabrina Speianu said in the report.
In one positive metric, the number of homes listed for sale is up by about 500 at a time to 3,700, leading to a 23% increase in homes sold and a 13% increase in homes put in contract, according to the Columbus Realtors data.
But home prices are rising at an accelerated pace, too. The median sale price of a home in April is up 12.4% to $213,600, and the average sale price is up 7.4% to $242,063, certain to mean new highs for the hottest part of the season in the May through July months.
Columbus’ numbers outpaced the median price of homes sold across Ohio, which averaged $188,953, up 5.6% across the entire state. But there’s also been a statewide 4.5% increase in home sales too.
Ohio Realtors President Anhanette Frye said an uptick in homes marketed for sale would be needed to keep the momentum going.
That’s got to include new housing construction, too. Nationwide economists Ben Ayers and Ankit Gupta said in their own research that home building is on pace to grow this year, with more hosing starts nationwide in April, driven by low interest rates. But the numbers are still below a year ago.