MOUNT VERNON — Both home sales and sale prices for existing homes in Knox County during the first four months of 2008 were well below the figures posted for the same period in 2007, according to the Ohio Association of Realtors.
The number of real estate units sold last month fell by over 20 percent, compared to the sales figures from last April, according to a recent OAR report. The report gives the following information for Knox County: 127 real estate units were sold in April 2008, compared to 161 in April 2007, a 21.1 percent drop. The average sale price for existing homes in the county also declined, falling from $131,027 last April to $120,181 last month, a 8.3 percent dip.
The dollar volume from county homes sales, between January and April 2008, was $15,262, 972. The was a 27.6 percent decline compared the figure of $21,095,350 for April 2007.
There were 34 homes sold in the county this April, compared to 51 last April, a 33.3 percent drop. The average sale price last month was $137,275, compared to $133,028, a 3.2 percent drop. In March 2008, 41 Knox County homes sold in March 2008 at an average sale price of $132,796.
Ohio’s housing market showed signs of stabilizing in April, according to the OAR, whose president, Brad Knapp, said the light at the end of the tunnel is not far away. There was an increase in sales over the prior month for the third consecutive reporting period and reaching a level it was prior to 2003, that is, before the housing boom.
“We’re optimistic about the long-term prospects of Ohio real estate marketplace,” Knapp said. “The housing sector in the Buckeye State has begun to return to traditional levels of sales activity that the market has typically experienced.”
Statewide sales of new and existing homes during the first four months of the year total 33,167, 14.5 percent behind the 38,785 sales posted during the period a month ago.
The state’s average sale price from January to April, $132,225, marks an 8.2 percent drop from the figure of $144,042 posted during the same period last year. The total dollar volume reached $4.4 billion, a 21.5 percent decrease from the $5.6 billion posted in 2007.
Sales in April reached 9,832, an increase from 8,975 but 12.5 percent decrease from the 11,233 sales posted during the month a year ago. The average sale price for April reached $146,111, a 9.2 percent decrease from the $132,719 during the period a year ago.
