Dayton Board Of Realtors

Home sales, construction remain in slump

Sarah Bingaman Schwartz of Riverside counts herself as lucky. She and her family moved to Riverside from Minneapolis in October when her husband landed a job here, she said.

They were able to rent their house in Minnesota to a friend, rather than sell it at the bottom of the market, and lease another one here, Schwartz said. The couple is in no rush to purchase another home, but instead will let circumstance determine whether they buy or rent.

“We’re trying to be cautious and smart about it before we commit to anything else,” she said.

Many other potential homeowners are taking the same approach. But Holly McCabe, 22, went against the trend and bought a house with her fiancee, Bob Sams, late last year. The Moraine couple decided they could own a home for less than they were paying in rent, McCabe said.

“We figured we might as well save a little money and own something in the future,” she said.

Local housing industry leaders are now trying to inspire more people to be like McCabe.

Even in a sluggish economy, spring usually sees a boost in housing sales. But sales of new and existing homes in the Dayton area — and across the nation — have yet to emerge from the winter doldrums.

The Case-Schiller index released last month indicated the worst decline since the real estate bubble burst, and a recent poll issued by RealtyTrac and Trulia indicated that Americans don’t expect housing — a key component of the economy — to rebound until 2014.

Statistics show how soft the local market has become.

Home and condo sales in April fell 25.5 percent to 827 compared with 1,110 a year ago, according to the Dayton Area Board of Realtors. The average price fell to $109,418, versus $121,342 during April of last year, a 9.8 percent drop, DABR officials said.

The board’s totals include results from Greene, Montgomery and Preble counties as well as the northern half of Warren.

During the first four months of 2011, 8,024 houses and condos were sold, versus 8,596 homes and condos sold during the same period a year ago, DABR said. The average price stood for January through April dropped to $104,121, a 12.6 percent decline.

New home construction also has stalled. Residential building permits were down in February, March and April, following a brief spike in January, falling nearly 21 percent during the four months when compared with the first four months of 2010, according to figures from the Home Builders Association of Dayton.

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