From staff and wire reports
Fewer Americans nationwide bought existing homes in October, as higher mortgage rates, the 16-day partial government shutdown and a limited supply of houses on the market reduced sales.
The National Association of Realtors reported that home re-sales fell 3.2 percent last month from September to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 5.12 million. That’s down from a 5.29 million pace in September and the slowest since June. A healthy pace is around 5.5 million.
Sales of single family homes declined 4.1 percent, while condominium sales rose 3.3 percent.
Locally and statewide, however, sales were up.
In Summit County, a total of 579 homes changed hands last month. That’s up 9.2 percent from the 530 sold in October a year ago and up from the 557 sold this past September, according to the Akron Area Board of Realtors.
Summit home sales are not adjusted for seasonal variations.
Sale prices in Summit County were down slightly, with the median price in October dropping 1.3 percent to $113,500 from $115,050 for October 2012. The median for October 2011 was $100,150.
Median means half sold for a price above the number and half below.
Sales were up 14.9 percent in October in a larger Northeast Ohio area — a region that includes Summit, Stark, Portage, Medina and Cuyahoga counties.
In that region, a total of 3,354 single-family homes were sold in October, according to the Northern Ohio Regional Multiple Listing Service. That’s up 4.9 percent from 2,920 in October 2012.
The average sale price in this 15-county area in October was $134,701. That’s up 3.8 percent from $129,824 for the month last year.
Statewide, sales totaled 11,076 last month. This is an 8 percent increase from the 10,257 sales posted in October a year ago, according to figures from the Ohio Association of Realtors. The statewide group said the October 2013 sales total is the month’s best mark since 2006.
The statewide average sale price of $137,039 for October this year is a 2.3 percent increase from the $133,914 average posted in October 2012.
The Ohio association does not provide a median price.
Nationally, the median sales price of an existing home was $199,500 in October, up 12.8 percent from a year earlier and the 11th straight month of double-digit annual increases.
The 16-day partial government shutdown pinched home sales last month by creating uncertainty about the economy and slowing loan approvals: 13 percent of real-estate agents reported that transactions had been delayed.
Beacon Journal business writer Katie Byard contributed to this report.