Ohio housing market posts record number of purchase contracts reached in December
By Carl Horst, OAR Director of Publications/Media Relations
The Ohio Association of REALTORS reports the number of single-family homes and condominiums put under agreement in December 2016 reached a best-ever level for the month, increasing 5.8 percent from the level posted during the month a year ago.
Ohio's December Pending Home Sales Index of 163.3, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, increased 5.8 percent from December 2015 (154.3). Activity in December decreased 8.6 percent from the record pace of agreements reached in November 2016 (178.8).
The Pending Sales Index posted during the fourth quarter 2016 (178.3) tops all quarters reached throughout 2016, besting first quarter (154.1), second quarter (161.2) and third quarter activity (167.4). The fourth quarter 2016 pace reached the highest index for all quarters since OAR began recording statewide data in 2008.
"The Ohio housing market is continuing to display tremendous resiliency, as the number of homes put under contract in December reached an all-time high for the month and marks our 32nd consecutive month of year-over-year gains," said OAR President Pete Kopf. "Ohio's REALTOR community helped a record-setting number of consumers navigate through the complexities of the home buying process in 2016 and, as a result, helped strengthen communities across the Buckeye State."
The rate of homes put under contract reached a record annualized level in 2016 of 162.0, a 5.6 increase from the previous high set a year earlier of 153.4.
Compared to 2008, a historically healthy market that marked the end of five consecutive record years for existing home sales and the onset of the recession, December's Index score of 163.3 marks a 63.3 increase.
A pending sale or a sale "under agreement" is when the buyer and seller agree on terms of the sale of a home and have a signed purchase and sale agreement, but have yet to close and be recorded as such.
OAR, the largest professional trade association in the state with more than 30,000 members, is the only organization that compiles this state wide information from selected Multiple Listing Services each month. The tracking of "pending sales" provides reliable information about where the market is heading in coming months.
