(October 18, 2006) Fighting inventory levels almost 30 percent higher than last year, central Ohioans trying to sell their homes have been hoping in earnest that the listing inventory would lessen to accommodate the decrease in home sales this year. "The number of homes listed in September was down 11.3 percent from the number of homes listed in September of 2005," says Chris Reese, President of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. "The total inventory of residential homes for sale at the close of the quarter was 18,485 which is still 17.8 percent higher than last year. But the reduction in inventory over the last few months suggests we?re headed towards a more balanced real estate market in central Ohio." Home sales were down almost 12 percent in Septembert compared to last year. However, sales for the first three quarters of 2006 are just three percent lower than homes sold January through September of 2005. "Sellers need to understand what they are dealing with in the current market," says Reese. "We still have elevated levels of inventory to compete with, homes are selling for less than they may have a year ago and it's taking longer to sell a home due to these factors." "On the other hand, buyers should jump on the market right now as we have such a robust selection of homes for sale, sellers are more interested than usual to be competitive, and interest rates are the lowest they've been in a year". 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. | 
Calendar