Home purchase agreements reach record-setting level in July
Ohio REALTORS report the number of single-family homes and condominiums put under agreement in July 2018 increased a slight 0.5 percent from the level posted during the month a year ago.
Ohio’s July Pending Home Sales Index of 154.8, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, increased a marginal 0.5 percent from July 2017 (154.0). Activity in July fell 7.0 percent from the pace of agreements reached in June 2018 (166.5).
“Activity within the Ohio housing marketplace was brisk in July, as the number of purchase contracts signed reached a best-ever level for the month,” said Ohio REALTORS President Tiffany Meyer. “It’s evident that the desire for homeownership remains strong throughout the state despite the ongoing challenge of tight inventory levels.”
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, July’s Index score of 154.8 marks a 54.8 percent 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.
Ohio REALTORS, the largest professional trade association in the state with more than 33,000 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.
