For quite some time, Cleveland has been a competitive seller’s market. But is it slowly shifting, giving more wiggle room to home buyers? Let’s find out.
What the experts are saying
Real estate experts from Yes-MLS and Redfin predict that Cleveland’s housing market is easing towards a more balanced playing field. Most of the favor will still tip towards the sellers’ side, but more opportunities will open up to home buyers.
A sellers’ market requires conditions wherein the housing inventory can’t keep up with the demand. It has been the case in Cleveland for the past three years or so. As a result, home prices increased and competition among home buyers was fierce.
Experts, however, are seeing a slow but steady increase on Cleveland’s housing supply. This doesn’t mean that home prices will cease to climb, according to Joe Rath, Redfin’s Ohio market manager. They will still increase, albeit at a more modest pace.
“We’re already seeing sellers adjusting their price expectations, but they’ll be more empowered to buy with rising inventory, still low mortgage rates, and increased access to credit,” Joe Rath told Cleveland.com.
Is the market cooling down?
Although gathered data can help us predict future outcomes, sometimes, things happening on the ground are quite different.
Cleveland real estate entered 2019 with a bang. Although the housing inventory is increasing, the level is still not quite enough to meet the demand.
Of course, it will take some time for us to truly see Cleveland’s housing market level out. The good news is we’re definitely on the right track.
Cleveland real estate is doing well
For the most part, yes. Both home sellers and buyers have plenty of opportunities for real estate success in Cleveland. The market gradually balancing also shows how far Cleveland has recovered since the 2007 housing crisis. For instance, it was only last year when Cuyahoga County finally rebounded to pre-housing bust figures.
Another indicator that Cleveland has gone a long way is the ratio of closing price to listing price. According to data from Yes-MLS, home sales from January earlier this year were sold for almost 95 percent of the original listing price. It’s an impressive jump from ten years ago, when the ratio was only at 82.4 percent.
Homes that were listed on the market are also spending less and less time waiting for the right home buyer.
Based on data from December 2018 and January 2019, homes in Cuyahoga County and the Cleveland metro area spent an average of 72 days and 57 days in the market, respectively. That’s in stark contrast to the average number of days homes spent on the market back in April 2012 (125 days in Cuyahoga County and 144 days in the Cleveland metro area).
Keep yourself updated with Cleveland real estate news
Sign up for e-mail alerts to get the latest news on Cleveland real estate and lifestyle. You can also find more sources on home selling here. If you’d like to learn more, you can always contact me at michellemcquade(at)howardhanna(dotted)com or 440-823-2448.