Dayton Area Home Sales for March 2006
After an exceptionally strong February, the pace of single-family sales in the Dayton area slowed somewhat in March. The 1,248 sales reported to the Board’s MLS was a 6.48% increase compared to last March. This was the smallest year-over-year increase since July of last year, but still set a March record for the third straight year. Nationally, as reported by the National Association of Realtors, sales of existing homes in March were down a slight 0.7% compared to last March, but were up 3.08% in our region.
Locally, sales volume for the month reached nearly $159 million, up 3.5% from last March, and generated an average sale price of $127,326 per unit, down 2.8% compared to March last year. This is the fifth month in a row that the average price has declined compared to the previous year, as a growing inventory has established a clear buyer’s market and continues to put downward pressure on sale prices.
Our local activity, brought the sold total for the first quarter of 2006 to 3,070, compared to 2,766 during the same period in 2005, an impressive 11% increase. Sales volume generated in the first quarter totaled over $390 million, 8.33% better than last year. The average sale price per single-family unit for the first quarter was $127,117, a decline of 2.4%.
Listing activity boomed in March, with 2,904 entries added to the inventory, a 21.5% jump in year-over-year comparison. The three-month period saw a comparable increase, with 7,559 single-family entries representing a 24.6% increase over the winter quarter of 2005.
The overall MLS inventory at the end of March had grown to 8,540 single-family listings or a 6.84-month's supply based on the current sales pace. This compares to 8,100 at the end of February and 6,625 at the same time last year when only a 5.65-month's supply of homes was available.
The Dayton Area Board of REALTORS® is the local chapter of the National Association of REALTORS® and represents over 2,800 members and affiliates in the Dayton area.
Statistics compiled by John Junker, MLS Data Specialist