Roughly 320 homes were listed as being sold in Clark County between April and June, constituting the second quarter of the year, compared to the little over 260 homes sold in the county between January and March, the first quarter of the year. That represented a 23% increase in home sales.
In Champaign County, 130 homes were sold in the area during the second quarter compared to the little under 100 homes during the first three months of the year. That represented a 30% increase in home sales during those two periods.
The active median listing price for a home in Clark County shot up from a little under $120,000 to $180,000 between March and April before slightly decreasing to little below $170,000 in May and June.
That is according to housing data collected by the Western Regional Information Systems & Technology (WRIST), an Ohio-based company that monitors real estate trends.
With some homes fetching higher prices at faster rates, it has caused some potential sellers to hold off putting their house on the market.
Clark County, particularly the City of Springfield, saw national attention earlier this year for having one of the hottest housing markets in the country.
That designation came from two national publications -- USA Today and the Wall Street Journal.
Those designations are the result of limited housing stock, in addition to other factors such as lower days on the market and increased interest in available homes when compared to other areas across the nation.
“It’s continuing exactly how it was before. Nothing has changed. Inventory is still a problem. We still can’t put homes on the market because (sellers) can’t find homes to move into,” said Sunny Dhingra, with Always Sunny Realty.
The real estate brokerage has a presence in the Greater Springfield and Greater Dayton areas.
Dhingra noted that on average, homebuyers use the proceeds from the sale of their home toward the purchase of another.
Dhingra said though high demand has not let up and low inventory remains, there was a decent price increase in terms of what homes are being listed for on the local market.
The number of homes sold as well as the high prices they commanded have continued to trend upwards with May and June numbers surpassing what was seen between January and March.
Certain jumps in the average sale of homes and related trends are better compared by months rather than the quarters in which they occurred.
An example is that there was a dip in the number of homes sold in Clark County between March and April, with that number going from over 100 homes down to a little over 80 homes.
However, those home sales increased in May. That number also surpassed a jump in home sales seen in March that was higher than the other months in the first quarter.
The overall spike in demand though, has caused the active median listing price for homes to shoot up in Clark County, with that trend starting between March and April.
Some housing trends that started in the first quarter continued throughout the second quarter.
An example is the median sales price for homes that were sold gradually increased between February and June going from about $130,000 to a little under $160,000.
In addition to that, the average number of days that homes sat on the market in Clark County dropped sharply beginning in February. That continued throughout the second quarter.
The number of new listings tripled between February and June in Clark County going from 60 to 160.
The average number of days that a home was on the market has steadily gone down since February, which saw a home spend an average of 75 days on the market.
That continued to go down during the second quarter going from over 60 days in April to around 55 days in June.
Dhingra said that lower property taxes and lower costs of living in Clark County are attractive to homebuyers who may work in pricier areas nearby such as Columbus and Dayton.
In addition to that, stimulus money paid during the coronavirus pandemic has prompted some homebuyers to use it as a down payment on a new home.
Those factors have also contributed to housing market results in Champaign County, which saw the median price for a home sold peak to $220,000 in March before dipping down to a little under $180,000 in June.
However, homes sold for more in May and June then they did in January and February.
The active median listing prices for homes on the market in that county continued to fluctuate between both quarters of the year going as low as $170,000 to as high as a little over $200,000.
The average days that homes in Champaign County sat on the market decreased during the second quarter continuing a trend that started late in the first quarter.
That number went from a little under 70 days in April to a little over 60 days in June.
In Clark County, Dhingra said some people moving back to the area for reasons such as flexibility related to remote work and wanting to be closer to family has also added to demand for homes.
In terms of the near future, Dhingra said he doesn’t see the market slowing down as demand is expected to remain high and some homes coming from planned developments in the area will likely not come online until 2022 and 2023.
The developer of the Bridgewater subdivision in Springfield is looking to add more homes in the area and is looking to build approximately 258 homes on a stretch of land near Interstate 70 just southeast of Springfield city limits.
Another developer is looking to add more than 160 homes in Mad River Twp.
With the additional homes slated to hit the market in the near future and the area continuing to attract out of town attention, Dhingra said that can all play a part in strengthening the local economy.
“When people come, businesses will follow,” He added.
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