Home sales surged 25% in October 2011 compared to October 2010 according to the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors. Cincinnati followed the national trend which saw a 13.5% increase in October 2011 sales vs. October 2010.  While the sales numbers (1,382 vs. 1,035) were up the price point was down 4.5 % from $152,188 in 2011 compared to $159,228 in 2010.

What is Driving the Increase in Cincinnati Real Estate Sales?

What are the driving forces behind the increase in sales this month? “Home affordability and low interest rates,” said Pete Kopf, president of the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors. “Economic uncertainty continues to hamper the housing market, but this is a great time for first-time home buyers, move-up buyers and even investors to take advantage of our extremely affordable market.”

What is Driving the Decrease in Prices of Cincinnati Real Estate?

There is common belief that the increase in the number of Foreclosures sales is pulling down the average price and increasing the sales volume. Overall this is a good thing since it is moving inventory off of the hands of the banks, and moving this inventory out of the system is the painful part of this recovery process. As the economy begins to add jobs look for price points to increase and sales to pick us as well. A second factor is that the number of high end properties being sold has slowed, and each multi-million dollar house sold can drastically impact the average price per sale in a market that moved just over 1,300 homes in October.