Cleveland Real Estate News: Yearly Comparisons For Homes Sold, Lakewood and Rocky River

I have been crazy busy this week, but promised more stats and thought this might be useful. I picked two communities with sold housing stocks and thriving business communities: Lakewood and Rocky River. These are going to be statistics of homes sold for each year 2004-2007 (again, home stats cover homes listed with area brokerages). These combine single family homes, town homes, condos; these stats cover January through August 17th of each year.

Rocky River:

2007 188 Homes Sold
Average Sale Price was $244,002

2006 194 Homes Sold
Average Sale Price was $241,095

2005 189 Homes Sold
Average Sale Price was $231,815

2004 205 Homes Sold
Average Sale Price $245,043

Lakewood:

2007 84 Homes Sold
Average Sale Price was $281,433

2006 87 Homes Sold
Average Sale Price was $255,672

2005 344 Homes Sold
Average Sale Price was $185,018

2004 327 Homes Sold
Average Sale Price was $182,533

In both communities the sale prices are higher but the numbers of homes sold are lower. Lakewood has quite a jump in average sale prices. I'll be very curious to see what the stats look like for the next six months; will the volatility in the lending market affect these communities? What about foreclosure rates? I guess we can stay tuned.

Cleveland Real Estate: The Skinny on Lakewood and Rocky River Home Sales

Six months of statistics are available for home sales in and around Cleveland so I'm going to be posting these off and on over the next week. Today it's Lakewood and Rocky River. These stats, as usual, cover homes sold by brokerages in NE Ohio. All stats cover January to the present.

Lakewood:

105 total homes sold. 66 were BR single family homes; the rest were condos. The lowest sale price was $55,000 and the highest was $223,000.

All 105 averaged 94 days on the market before selling. The average 'sold' dwelling had 3BRs, 1BA and a one car garage. Average asking price was $120,096. The average sale price was $115,574.

There are 168 Single Family Homes for sale currently in Lakewood.
There are 138 condominiums for sale.

12 homes are currently under contract and waiting for inspections and mortgages to be finalized; 36 homes are 'pending' or waiting to close.

Rocky River:

182 total homes sold since January.
137 were single family homes
45 were condominiums

They ranged in price from $127,000 to @262,000. The average ask price was @178,060 and the average sale price was $171,747. These homes were on the market an average of 88 days.

There are 4 'contingent' offers, meaning waiting for inspections and mortgage approvals.
There are 37 homes pending, or waiting to close.

Rocky River currently has 171 condos listed for sale ; 182 single family homes are listed for sale.

Still more available homes than there are buyers. Peace Out - 3C

Cuyahoga County Housing Trends: A Lakewood Update

We have almost six months of statistics available so we can begin to examine housing trends for 2007 in Lakewood. Here are the stats from January 1st to the present:

Sold Since January:
186 Single Family Homes
48 Condos
44 Multi Family Homes

On The Market Now:
391 Single Family Homes
144 Condos
216 Multi Family Homes

What about prices and amenities on these homes for sale? Example: You can buy a 4 BR colonial on Parkwood with one full bath and two half baths, central a/c, a garage, an updated kitchen and a finished basement rec/play room for $148,900. How about a 4 BR 1 1/2 bath colonial with almost 1500 square feet of finished space, an updated kitchen, landscaped yard, formal dining room, a finished basement and third floor for $124,000 on Lauderdale. Yes you can now find homes in move in condition in Lakewood for less than $130k.

Lakewood has always been a destination of choice because of the vibrant business district, parks, City services, First Time Home Buyers Program and quick access to Downtown Cleveland.

On the Lakewood News Front: Architect Robert Stern's work on the Main Branch of the Lakewood Public Library is now complete and it is now once again open to the public. You can see photos of it on the WKYC news site here. It was a 38,000 square foot expansion. They doubled the parking spaces although that is still not a huge amount of parking. But it's certainly on the bus line, and I have always been impressed with their stats on the huge numbers of people who walk there every day. Reading, luckily, is not a thing of the past.

Btw, one thing that made me smile on the Library website? You can now send cool postcard ecards from the website. Peace Out- 3C

Cuyahoga County Home Sale Stats: 2006 vs. 20007

They are running the Indy 500 this weekend so I thought I'd do a few posts putting 2006 stats against 2007 stats. I'm reporting on brokerage sales - January to May 27 2007 and the same period of time in 2006.

In Lakewood, 2007 sale prices beat 2006 by a few thousand; homes had to stay on the market about twenty days longer to sell. Total sales however? 2006 was higher. Here are the stats:

2007: 121 Total SF sales. Average Ask Price $172,852. Average Sale Price $165,655. On market 92 days.

2006: 132 sales. Average Ask Price $168,053. Average Sale Price $162,227. On market 71 days.


West Side of Cleveland (large area, includes Tremont and OC but also Clark/Metro Area). This area was the opposite, there were more sales in 2006 but the 2007 sale prices were a bit higher. Here are the stats:

2007: 150 Total SF sales. The average Ask Price was $81,133. The average Sale Price was $78,469. Number of days on the market averaged 92.

2006: 185 Total SF sales. The average Ask Price was $74,455. The average Sale Price was $71,442. Days on market averaged 81.

Since there are a lot of condos in 44113, I'm going to break that zip code out of the above figures and just do that zip code. This is for Ohio City and Tremont. First, single family sales;

2007: 30 Total SF homes sold. The average Ask Price was $205,109. The average Sale Price was $204,728. Average days on the market for these homes was 103.

2006: 23 Total SF homes sold. The average Ask Price was $178,628 and the average Sale Price was $173,454. Less days on the market, on average, in 2006: 71 days.

Condos in 44113? Here goes:

2007: 12 Sold Average Ask Price was $259,349. Average Sale Price was $246,175. Look at the days on the market - 205 days.

2006: 19 Sold. Average Ask Price was $224,484 and average Sale Price was $225,038. Fewer average days on the market: 174 days.

Peace Out - 3C

Cuyahoga County Housing Trend Reports

I see a lot of people in my Cleveland neighborhood doing home repairs: new siding, roofs, windows. I wondered if they are planning on selling their homes or just doing due diligence and making them look better/be more energy efficient. I headed to the computer listing service we use as Realtors® and searched some statistics. This service (NORMLS) is updated through the end of the prior month - in this case, April.

So what has been happening since January 1, 2007? Here is some data (single family or SF- homes only this time):

Brecksville: there are 92 homes on the market; 125 have been listed for sale since January. The average sale price for a SF home was $281,924. 48 homes sold. They were on the market about 75 days and the sellers got 94.29% of their asking price, on average.

Bay Village: there are 134 homes on the market; 172 newly listed for sale since January. 52 SF homes have sold since January. The average sale price was $249,918. They were on the market about 91 days on average. And sellers for these homes received about 93.71% of their asking price.

Shaker Heights: there are 371 SF homes for sale; 451 of these homes have been listed since January. 65 SF homes have sold. The average sale price was $210,292. They were on the market about 86 days before they sold. And the sellers of these homes received about 94.15% of their asking price.

Lakewood: 328 SF homes are for sale in Lakewood now. 493 were newly listed since January. 131 homes sold. Their average sale price was $147,647. These homes were on the market for about 96 days before they sold. Sellers received about 95.27% of their asking price on these homes.

What about Cleveland? Okay, here is my neighborhood - where all that home repair work has the streets buzzing.

West Side of Cleveland From Brookpark Road North to Lorain Avenue, East to W. 117th and West to W. 140th.

There are 428 homes for sale now. There were 117 sold since January. There were 467 new listings since January. The average sale price was $90,013 and these sold homes were on the market about 79 days. Sellers of these homes received about 94.49% of their asking price.

The key finding in these results is a change in the average listing price to sale price. Historically, sellers have been receiving 3% of their asking price in NE Ohio. The neighborhoods I studied showed that to have changed. I would say 5% of asking price is closer to reality based on these stats. Why would that be?

1. Could be harder to convince sellers to accept that the market value of their home is not what it was three years ago.

2. Could be that homes on the market needed work and that came 'off' the asking price when a contract agreement was reached.

3. It's a buyer's market. I'm as tired as you are of hearing that phrase. But with so much competition, sellers are more willing to negotiate on their prices.

Peace Out - 3C

Lakewood, Rocky River Homes/Condos Sold March 2007

It's Saturday and the end of March, so it's time for housing sales information. Here is what sold in these two communities this month:

Lakewood: 33 Single Family Homes sold between the prices of $50,000 and $855,000. The average number of days these listings were on the market was 94, or just over three months. The average Ask Price was $ $176,484 and the average Sale Price was $155,721. Average amenities? 3 Br's, 2 Baths and a 2 car garage.

10 Condominiums sold between the prices of $39,500 and $300,000. The average number of days these condos were on the market was 142 (condos take a bit longer to sell in general, especially in a city like Lakewood where there are a lot of condo complexes). The average Ask Price was $143,410 and the average Sale Price was $132,990. Average amenities? 2 Br's, 2Baths and parking/garage for one car.

Rocky River: 17 Single Family Homes sold between the prices of $137,000 and $400,000. The average number of days these homes were on the market was 96 or again, just over three months. The average Ask Price was $246,182 and the average Sale Price was $231,764. Amenities? 4 Br's, 2 Baths and a 2 car garage.

5 Condominiums sold between the prices of $55,260 and $232,000. They were on the market about 130 days. The average Ask Price was $ $134,860 and the average Sale Price was $123,152. Amenities? 2 Br's, 2 Baths and parking for one car.

Here are a few more statistics to keep in mind. It is definitely still a buyers market. What's listed for sale now?

Rocky River: 116 Single Family Homes and 109 Condominiums
Lakewood: 288 Single Family Homes and 117 Condominiums

Peace Out - 3C

Single Family Home Sales: Cleveland's West Side, Lakewood and Rocky River

It's the weekend and time for an update on home sales. This is a 'single family' home report, by zip code, for a few of our west side communities:

• Data includes homes sold through brokerages


• Data from March 1, 2007 to the present.

Rocky River 44116

1 home under contract

6 homes sold

Lakewood 44107

6 homes went under contract

17 homes sold

Cleveland's West Side 44135

1 home under contract

12 homes sold

Cleveland's West Side 44111

5 homes under contract

9 homes sold

Cleveland's West Side 44102

1 home under contract

6 homes sold

Cleveland's West Side 44113

2 homes under contract

none sold in March (yet!)

Peace Out - 3C