The Summit County housing market suffered a setback at the start of 2013, with sales declining 12.3 percent from January a year ago. The median sales price, however, jumped 36.9 percent.
Summit County home sales last month totaled 278, down from 317 in January 2012, and up from the 254 sold in January 2011, according to the Akron Area Board of Realtors.
The median sale price was $115,000, up from $84,000 in January last year.
The continued decline in the local inventory of homes for sale mirrored the national trend. The number of homes on the market in Summit County dropped 23.6 percent, to 2,908, down from the 3,806 inventory for January a year ago.
Area Realtors have suggested the decline in inventory is dampening sales as buyers have fewer properties from which to choose.
In a 15-county Northeast Ohio area, including Summit, Stark, Portage and Medina counties, sales of single-family homes increased 6.2 percent to 1,950, compared with the 1,836 sold in January 2012.
Statewide, home sales in January reached 7,254, an 18.7 percent increase from the 6,113 sales posted during January a year ago, according to the Ohio Association of Realtors.
The number of homes sold statewide last month reached the third highest total since 1998 — the year the Ohio association began keeping track of statewide sales provided by the state’s Multiple Listing Service.
Statewide, the average sales price for January reached $120,437, a 4.3 percent increase from the $115,434 average price for January 2012. The Ohio association does not provide a median-price figure.
Nationally, sales of previously occupied homes rose in January to the second-highest level in three years.
The National Association of Realtors said sales rose 0.4 percent in January compared with December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.92 million. That was the second-highest sales pace since November 2009, when a temporary homebuyer tax credit had boosted sales.
The median price for a home sold in January was $173,600, a 12.3 percent increase from a year ago.