Cincinnati home sales start '11 on positive note

Home sales in the Cincinnati region started the year on a positive note, especially in Northern Kentucky.

While both the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors and the Northern Kentucky Association of Realtors reported gains, Northern Kentucky sales were up 16.5 percent.

There were 892 total units sold in southwest Ohio in January, up from 860 sold in the same month last year, according to the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors. Sales are down 25 percent from December, but January and February are generally the weakest sales months of the year.

The average sale price was $140,761, down 6.4 percent compared to the same month last year.

“The increase in the number of sales shows the continued stabilization of our local real estate market,” Pete Kopf, president of the CABR, said in a news release. “The dip in average sale prices is indicative of a 12.6 percent increase in lender-involved sales in January 2011 compared to January 2010. The continued cleansing of lender-owned properties from the available inventory is important for the complete recovery of the housing market.”

Nationwide, January home sales were up 2.7 percent from December and 5.3 percent compared to January 2010.

In Northern Kentucky, there were 226 home sales last month, up from 194 in the previous January.

In addition, the average sale price increased nearly 30 percent, to $165,862. The jump in average sale price was attributed to the closing of three properties over the $1 million price point.

Even without those sales, the average sale price rise to $153,247.

“We were pleasantly surprised when we saw the final numbers from January,” Mike Becker, president of the Northern Kentucky Association of Realtors, said in a news release. “To see positive numbers across the board in a month that is typically affected by seasonal weather conditions was a definite morale booster.”

Read more: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2011/02/23/cincinnati-home-sales-start-11-on.html?ed=2011-02-23&s=article_du&ana=e_du_pub