(September 25, 2006) Home sales in August rebounded as the inventory of homes for sale continues to decrease. Although the 2,732 homes sold in August was five percent lower than the number of homes sold in August of 2005, this is still a significant increase from the month before and the second highest number of sales in August on record according to the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. “The 18,389 homes that have sold in 2006 is just 1.5 percent behind the level of sales in 2005,” says Chris Reese, President of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. “At this point, 2006 is on track to be the second highest year on record for home sales.” Although inventory levels in 2006 have been as high as 29% higher than last year, those levels have been gradually decreasing over the past few months. The 18,753 homes on the market at the end of August were just 20 percent higher than the same time last year. The 4,913 homes listed for sale in August was .7 percent lower than the number listed in August of 2005 (4,949). According to Reese, “Many buyer and investors have held off this year waiting to see what would happen with interest rates. After raising short-term rates about every six weeks for two years, the Fed has kept rates untouched twice in a row now. With our level of inventory and mortgage rates dropping, now is a great time to buy a home.” The Columbus Board of REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service (MLS) serves all of Franklin, Delaware, Fayette, Madison, Morrow and Union Counties and parts of Champagne, Clark, Licking, Fairfield, Knox, Logan, Marion and Pickaway Counties. To view residential and most of the commercial MLS listings, visit www.Realtor.com providing over 1.7 million homes every day. | | Additional Statistics 
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