Columbus Board of Realtors Announces official March Numbers

What's the takeaway? The Central Ohio Real Estate Market is hanging in there and there's more good news than bad. Of course, your micro-market is all that mattes to you.

Today the local Board of Realtors announced official March numbers. Numbers, being what they are, can be divulged and manipulated in any number of ways….here’s the Board’s take…..

The 1,487 homes sold last month was 31.8 percent higher than the previous month’s sales of 1,128. Year to date sales of 3,678 lag 2010 by 7.9 percent, but are still 6.9 percent ahead of the 2,178 homes sold in the first quarter of 2009.

“At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we still have to keep in mind that 2010 home sales were significantly impacted by the second set of home buyer tax credits, offers Rick Benjamin, 2011 President of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. “By comparison, March closings are actually 9.3 percent higher than homes closed in March of 2009 when the first round of tax credits was available.”

In addition, 2,512 homes were put in contract last month touting an 11.5 percent increase over the 2,252 contracted sales in March of 2010.

Homes in central Ohio this year have sold for an average of $143,773, down 3.7 percent from the average sale price in 2010, but up 3.8 percent from the average sale price in 2009. The average price of a home sold in March was $144,975, up 2.1 percent from the previous month ($140,770).

The number of homes listed for sale last month (3,886) dropped almost 22 percent from the previous year (4,972) bringing the total inventory of homes available for sale in central Ohio to 14,370, down 22.3 percent from one year ago.

“Home sales follow the simple economic concept of supply and demand,” adds Benjamin. “When the supply is higher than the demand, the product, in this case a home, is subject to sell for less. So a decrease in inventory is a positive for our market.”

“The other positive is, of course, last month’s drop in unemployment to 7.6 percent – the lowest point since January 2009.”

There were 2,280 homes listed for sale in Franklin County last month. The surrounding counties of Delaware and Licking saw 316 and 302 new listings respectively.

Chances are, if you live in Franklin County you may not care how things in the greater Central Ohio Market are….You care about how things in your community are selling or not selling. How are things going in your neck of the wood? Ask me, I’ll let you know.

Columbus Neighborhood Spotlight on King Lincoln/Bronzeville District

I’ve loved the first two installments of this series focusing on the Short North and German Village. Tonight, we get to see the next Columbus Neighborhood’s history come to life. The third installment in WOSU’s Columbus Neighborhoods series premieres tonight at 9pm on WOSU TV and showcases the King-Lincoln neighborhood. Learn more about the deep history of Columbus and its core neighborhoods during this one-hour documentary produced by WOSU.

King-Lincoln Documentary Premieres April 19 (tonight!) at 9pm.

About the King-Lincoln Documentary:
At its height in the 1930s, hundreds of people filled its bustling streets. The nation’s top musicians played its many theatres and clubs. African Americans of all walks of life lived and shopped there. Its two fabled streets, Mt. Vernon Avenue and Long Street, anchored the neighborhood that became the commercial and cultural heart of Columbus’s African American community.

Columbus Neighborhoods: King-Lincoln shows how this thriving neighborhood developed on land once used by Buffalo Bill when he brought his wild west show to Columbus. Because Columbus was practically—if not officially—segregated, a self-contained and self-reliant African American community developed and flourished on the city’s Near East side. The documentary explores the area’s rich and vibrant music heritage and includes features on Elijah Pierce, Aminah Robinson, Roman Johnson, and other artists. The program also explores the neighborhood’s demise as the interstate separated it from the rest of the city and shows how the renovation of the Lincoln Theatre may be a sign of the community’s rebirth.

For information on purchasing the Columbus Neighborhoods documentaries, click here.

As of Today – FHA Mortgage Insurance Premiums Increase .25

How will this FHA change effect your Columbus Home Buying Experience?

How will this effect your Columbus Home Buying experience? Well, if you’re purchasing your home with an FHA loan, this higher MIP will take away, on average, approximately $5000 of buying power.

WASHINGTON – As part of ongoing efforts to strengthen the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) capital reserves, FHA Commissioner David H. Stevens today announced a new premium structure for FHA-insured mortgage loans increasing its annual mortgage insurance premium (MIP) by a quarter of a percentage point (.25) on all 30- and 15-year loans.  The upfront MIP will remain unchanged at 1.0 percent.  This premium change was detailed in President Obama’s fiscal year 2012 budget, also released today, and will impact new loans insured by FHA on or after April 18, 2011.

“After careful consideration and analysis, we determined it was necessary to increase the annual mortgage insurance premium at this time in order to bolster the FHA’s capital reserves and help private capital return to the housing market,” said Stevens.  “This quarter point increase in the annual MIP is a responsible step towards meeting the Congressionally mandated two percent reserve threshold, while allowing FHA to remain the most cost effective mortgage insurance option for borrowers with lower incomes and lower down payments.”

The proposed change was announced last week as part of the Obama Administration’s report to Congress, which outlined the Administration’s plan to reform the nation’s housing finance system.  The Administration’s housing finance plan also recommended that Congress allow the present increase in FHA conforming loan limits to expire as scheduled on October 1, 2011.

This premium change enables FHA to increase revenues at a time that is critical to the ongoing stability of its Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) fund, which had capital reserves of approximately $3.6 billion at the end of FY 2010.  The change is estimated to contribute nearly $3 billion annually to the Fund, based on current volume projections.  It is vital that HUD take action to ensure that FHA will continue to serve its dual mission of providing affordable homeownership options to underserved American families and first-time homebuyers while helping to stabilize the housing market during these tough times.

On average, new FHA borrowers will pay approximately $30 more per month.  This marginal increase is affordable for almost all homebuyers who would qualify for a new loan.  Existing and HECM loans insured by FHA are not impacted by the pricing change.

FHA will continue to play an important role in the nation’s mortgage market in 2011.   President Obama’s FY 2012 budget projects the FHA will insure $218 billion in mortgage borrowing in 2012.  These guarantees will support new home purchases and re-financed mortgages that significantly reduce borrower payments.

How Does Franklin County Arrive at Your Home’s Value?

Click here to download or open a short PowerPoint presentation from the Auditor’s office about how Franklin County – or really most any county in Ohio – figures out how much your home is worth so that they can then figure out how much tax you should be paying on your home. > caao-yourhomeyourvalue-07-08

New Numbers out today – Franklin County Real Estate Update

The Columbus Board of Realtors released official February numbers today…

2011 Central Ohio home sales off to a strong start

click picture to expand

(March 22, 2011) Home sales for the first two months of the year are just 1.1 percent behind the same period last year suggesting a strong start for the central Ohio housing market according to the Columbus Board of REALTORS® (CBR).

There were 2,178 homes closed in January and February compared to the 2,202 closings during the first two months of 2010.

February home sales dipped slightly to 1,128, just 1.3 percent less than the 1,143 homes sold during the same month one year ago.

“Why are we pleased at the small decrease in sales this year” asks Rick Benjamin, CBR President? “At this time last year, the first-time home buyer tax credits were significantly impacting our sales volume. To remain at nearly the same level without that incentive is a positive sign of a strengthening market.”

“Additionally, there were 1,812 residential homes put in contract in February which is 18.7 percent more than February of 2010 (1,527). This also bodes well for March closing activity.”

Franklin County saw 658 homes sell last month and 1,637 more listed for sale, while 137 homes sold and 302 homes were listed in Delaware County. The City of Columbus topped the charts with 423 sales and 1,023 new listings. Other cities which saw higher sales and listing activity include Dublin, Hilliard, Westerville, Gahanna and Pickerington.

School districts experiencing higher sales and listing volume in February included Columbus, South-Western, Olentangy, Hilliard, Westerville, and Dublin.

“Although, the actual numbers of sales and listings for these districts were higher, we’re fortunate to have many strong school districts in central Ohio, several of which showed larger activity gains when compared to last year,” adds Benjamin. “Every area is different so it pays to ask a REALTOR® to help you interpret the data.”