Central Ohio home sales jump in April as inventory reaches 2020 levels

Central Ohio home sales are leaping as buyers welcome more choices and resign themselves to high interest rates.

Sales jumped 13% in April compared with last April, as shoppers come to grips with 30-year mortgage rates that have stayed north of 6% for a year and a half, according to the Columbus Realtors trade association.

"Our clients are starting to realize the rate is the rate," said Mike McCoy, an agent and broker at RE/MAX Impact in Westerville. "They were promised early in the year it would drop. It didn't happen and they are now thinking they can buy and refinance when rates do drop."

The average 30-year mortgage stood at 7.0% last week, a slight drop from the week before but far higher than the sub-4% (and often sub-3%) rates buyers enjoyed from the spring of 2019 through the spring of 2022, according to the federal mortgage agency Freddie Mac.

More: Three Ohio cities land in top 8 of spring's strongest housing markets

Central Ohio home buyers are benefitting from more choices. At the end of April, 3,054 homes were listed (without being in contract) in the Columbus area, 28% more than a year ago.

Homeowners, who have resisted posting for-sale signs the last few years, now appear more willing to move on: 3,257 central Ohio homeowners put their home on the market in April, 17% more than last April.

In Dublin, new listings jumped nearly 100% in April, from 37 last year to 73 this year. In Whitehall, listings doubled from nine last April to 18 this April. In Granville, 25 homes were listed in April compared with 16 a year ago.

“It’s great to see our total inventory climb over 3,000 units,” Columbus Realtors President Scott Hrabcak said in a news release. “We haven’t been at that level in April since 2020. There is still plenty of competition out there, but as we head into the summer months, it’s great that Realtors will have more options for buyers.”

More: New Albany dominates 2023's top home sales

Central Ohio home sales fell in 2022 and fell even more in 2023 as interest rates pummeled the market.

Columbus Realtors and McCoy noted that the Columbus area remains firmly a sellers' market, with multiple offers, cash offers and offers over asking remaining common.

One sign that sellers remain in the driver's seat: Central Ohio home prices continue to reach record highs. The median sales price of a central Ohio home in April was $317,513, up 5% from last year.

Statewide, home sales jumped 13%, led by increases in smaller markets such as Knox County and Mansfield, according to Ohio Realtors.

Nationally, however, sales retreated 2% in April, the National Association of Realtors reported.

"Home sales changed little overall, but the upper-end market is experiencing a sizable gain due to more supply coming onto the market," the organization's Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun, said in a news release.

jweiker@dispatch.com

@JimWeiker

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus home sales and listings spike in April despite interest rates