(December 19, 2006) Record numbers of homes have been listed for sale this year in central Ohio. Going into the holidays, inventory remains 15 percent higher than last year at this time according to the Columbus Board of REALTOR®. Although the actual number of homes added to the market last month is less than last year, the inventory of homes at the end of November (16,501) remains 15.4 percent higher than the residential home inventory one year ago... "The number of new homes added to the market last month dropped almost 14 percent from last year," offers Chris Reese, President of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. "We added over 3,300 homes to the market in November of 2005, but less than 3,000 this year in November. This is an indication that the market is headed in the direction of a more balanced playing field. Right now, the market clearly favors the buyer." November saw 1,763 homes sold -- a 7.2 percent decrease from November of last year. Year to date home sales are 4.2 percent behind 2005. The average sale price of a home sold in November was $167,371 which is three percent lower than the average price during the same month one year ago. Year to date, the average sale price is 1.8 percent lower than the average sale price of a home sold in 2005. "Although other areas of the country are seeing significant decreases in sales, home sales in central Ohio are just four percent behind last year which was a banner year for real estate," says Reese. "With interest rates at the lowest we've seen in a year, and inventory still relatively high, anyone interested in buying a home would be smart to look at the market right now." 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. | 
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