Dayton Area Home Sales for January 2008
The nationwide slump in the housing market that affected us throughout 2007 continued into the new year. Single-family home sales reported to the Dayton Area Board of REALTORS’® Multiple Listing Service in January reached a total of 670 and produced a cumulative sales volume $77.8 million. This is a 12.3% decline in unit sales compared to last January’s 764, and a 14.2% slide in sales volume compared to last year’s $90.7 million.
There is, however, some good news. Unlike other parts of the country, our local home values did not experience the dramatic inflation over the past few years. Instead, values gradually increased, making the Dayton area a very stable environment in which to purchase real estate. As a result, home values remained stable in 2007, seeing only minor declines in some communities. This trend continued in the month of January.
The average sale price per unit for the first month of 2008 was $116,161, just a 2.18% decline compared to last January’s $118,755. Average home values are typically lower during the winter months before peaking during the summer.
The number of single-family listings submitted to the MLS in January totaled 2,618, an increase of 6.4% compared to the 2,460 added during the same period last year. This is the first increase in year-over-year comparison for listings added to the inventory since July of last year.
With interest rates remaining very low and many favorably priced homes available, the market climate remains excellent for buyers. The overall MLS inventory at the end of January stood at 9,299 single-family listings or a 13.8-month supply, based on January’s sluggish resale rate.
This compares to a supply of 8,919 single-family listings and a supply ratio of 11.6-months last year at the same time. The resale rate at that time was only just beginning to experience a slowdown.
Statistics compiled by John Junker, MLS Data Specialist