WARREN — The local housing market continued in a bit of a slump last month, posting losses in homes sold and available listings compared with October 2021.

Still, homes sold despite higher mortgage rates, and the ones that did spent less time on the market than they did last year, according to the latest numbers from MLS Now, a multiple listing service that tracks sales and related data across northeast Ohio.

The number of homes sold across the state and the U.S. slid last month, too, yet reports show the average sales price continued to climb.

There were 175 closed sales in October in Trumbull County, down nearly 28 percent from the prior October, and new listings also fell nearly 28 percent to 188, according to MLS Now.

Through October, new listings remain off 5.3 percent, and the number of homes sold is down 4.7 percent.

The average sale price in the county fell 4.5 percent to $149,610 last month, but for the year so far is up 7 percent to $159,330.

For the month, homes were on the market an average of 38 days, six days fewer than in October 2021. For the year, average market time is 41 days, four days fewer over the same period.

In Mahoning County, new listings and homes sold also dropped year-over-year — 8.5 percent for new listings to 279 and 27.4 percent for sold listings. There were 217 homes sold in Mahoning County last month.

Through October, new listings are down 3.7 percent and the number of sold homes is down 3.8 percent.

The average sale price rose 13 percent to $187,232 for the month and at $176,885 through October, is 6.3 percent higher than the same 10-month period in 2021.

Homes stayed on the market an average of 40 days last month, five days fewer than in October 2021. The average market time for the year is down to 40 days, four days fewer than the same period last year.

OHIO

Across the state, homes sales reached 12,181, a drop of nearly 23 percent from a year ago, according to Ohio REALTORS. The average sales price reached $255,725, an increase of 6.3 percent compared to October 2021.

“The Ohio housing market is transitioning as rising interest rates have slowed sales activity among would-be buyers,” said John Mangas, Ohio REALTORS president.

The shift, Mangas said, is helping to boost inventory levels of homes for sale in most markets, giving buyers more options.

Around the state, 13 of 14 markets tracked by the association had an increase in the average sale price for the month. The outlier was the Athens market, which posted a decline 0.6 percent.

All of the markets posted a decline in sales activity.

NATION

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in October for the ninth consecutive month to the slowest pre-pandemic sales pace in more than 10 years.

Existing home sales fell 5.9 percent last month from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.43 million, the National Association of Realtors reported. The string of monthly sales declines this year is the longest on record going back to 1999, the NAR said.

Sales cratered 28.4 percent from October last year. Excluding the steep slowdown in sales that occurred in May 2020 near the start of the pandemic, sales are now at the slowest annual pace since December 2011, when the housing market was still mired in a deep slump following the foreclosure crisis of the late 2000s.

Despite the slowdown, home prices continued to climb last month, albeit at a slower pace than earlier this year. The national median home price rose 6.6 percent in October from a year earlier, to $379,100.

The median home price is down about 8 percent from its June peak, but remains 40 percent above October 2019, before the pandemic, said Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist.

“That’s really hurting affordability,” he said. “Most household incomes have not risen by 40 percent.”

The inventory of homes on the market declined for the third month in a row. Some 1.22 million homes were for sale by the end of October, down 0.8 percent from September, the NAR said.

That amounts to 3.3 months’ supply at the current pace. In a more balanced market between buyers and sellers, there is a 5- to 6-month supply.

business@tribtoday.com

Residential home sales data

October 2022

• Trumbull County

New listings – 188

Sold listings – 175

Average sale price – $149,610

• Mahoning County

New listings – 279

Sold listings – 217

Average sale price – $187,232

• Columbiana County

New listings – 101

Sold listings – 77

Average sale price – $172,419

October 2021

• Trumbull County

New listings – 259

Sold listings – 242

Average sale price – $156,719

• Mahoning County

New listings – 305

Sold listings – 299

Average sale price – $165,770

• Columbiana County

New listings – 130

Sold listings – 96

Average sale price – $168,994

SOURCE: MLS Now