High end home sales up in January

(February 17, 2005) Home sales in Central Ohio last month were up slightly over the beginning of 2004. However, the average sale price jumped up 11 percent last month from $151,058 to $167,888 according to the Columbus Board of REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service.

“We saw a large increase in sales of homes over $250,000 in January – almost 35 percent,” said Doug McCloud, 2005 President of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. “This is a switch from 2004 as, throughout the year, homes in the lower price ranges were selling in higher numbers.”

With 1,252 residential homes sales, January 2005 sales were up slightly – about 1.6 percent over the 1,232 homes sold last year.

REALTORS® helped sell over $2.1 million dollars worth of homes last month, a 12.9 percent increase over January of 2004. “Although it’s only the first month of the year,’ adds McCloud, “it’s a pretty healthy start for 2005.”