February 2010
Home Prices Up 12% ?

I just heard it reported twice by a news agency in central Ohio that home prices are up 12% over this same time last year. I heard this on March 23, 2010 and again on March 24, 2010.

I asked some of my friends if they heard this and they said they had heard the same thing. As much as I did not want to do it, I had to break the bad news. I informed them that this was not the case. This is a situation where the information was not communicated correctly or misunderstood and the news agency went with the story.

Your Home Is Probably Not Up 12% In Value

While it is possible that a home goes up in value 12%, this would be a rare case in central Ohio. We have been watching and tracking home sale statistics for years and have only seen this in a few cases. In these cases the homeowner had purchased the home at a great price and was able to flip it for a great price a year later. But this is not the typical situation in Central Ohio. Most people would not have seen this in any year this past 10 years and most people would not have seen this increase this year. Your home probably did not go up 12% in value this past year.

What Really Happened With Home Prices?

The homes that sold in February 2010 tended to be more expensive than the homes that sold in February 2009. We saw more expensive homes selling in February 2010 than we did in February 2009. As a matter of fact, the average was 12% more expensive.

• February 2009: 1,123 homes transferred and sold for an average of $133,604
• February 2010: 1,106 homes transferred and sold for an average of $149,498

The difference in the average price is $15,894, which is a 12% increase in the average sales price. This makes perfect sense when you realize the Home Buyer Tax Credit was extended to people who already own a home. It is likely that people who already own a home were taking advantage of the tax credit to move up to a more expensive home.

At SellingColumbus.com we work with buyers every day. We work with sellers every day. When you are ready to buy or sell give us call. We will come to you with information you can trust. We know the market.

If you would like to know what we see home sales doing in central Ohio in 2010 take a look at the Central Ohio Real Estate Forecast. This is our 5th year publishing the report and the Associated Press just reported similar predictions for 2010 last week. We have to see who is on our mailing list.