Perrysburg home market mixed, with number of sales, prices down

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Perrysburg’s housing market is a tough one to read right now, even for the experts.
“Buyers think it is a buyers market, sellers think it is a sellers market,” Jon Modene, owner of Re/Max Masters in Perrysburg. “It is a strange market.”
Whether the market is more favorable to buyers or to sellers, Dale Barnard is getting frustrated. His four-bedroom home on Front Street, built in 1880 and with an asking price of $559,000, has been on the market for several months, but he still hasn’t had a serious prospective buyer. He’s used to seeing historic homes in downtown Perrysburg sell quickly, but he’s noticing the market change.

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“New construction is selling like wildfire, there are so many homes available in the $165,000 price range,” he said. “Right now it seems like the more expensive, older homes are not sellers.”
The Toledo Regional Association of Realtors say the number of Perrysburg homes in the fourth quarter of last year were down 20 percent from the same period a year earlier, and that homes on the market for sale is up 9 percent from a year earlier. With more homes listed and fewer sold indicates a buyer’s market.
In the Perrysburg area, the report shows for the fourth quarter of 2014, average sales price is $214,000, flat from a year earlier; 89 homes were sold, down 20 percent; and there were 134 new listings, up 9 percent. For the metro area, the average sale price was $117,100, down 2 percent; 1,230 homes were sold, up 6 percent; and there were 1,722 new listings, up 5 percent.
Even though some of the statistics are mixed for the Perrysburg area, real estate agent John Kevern calls it a buyer’s market.
The Key Realty agent said, “To speak for myself and what I’ve seen, I think houses are on the market longer than they used to be. They used to turn over in 30 days, (and) now some homes are on the market for over a year.”
The Toledo Realtors’ report shows the average days a home for sale is on the market in Perrysburg is 109, which is five days higher than the metro Toledo area overall.
Karen Kinder, another Perrysburg real estate agent with Key Realty, said it seems to be more of a seller’s market in Perrysburg.
“Pricing has been up for a few years,” she said. “It depends on the month, but personally homes have been lasting from 60 to 90 days.”
Mr. Modene calls it a split market. It depends, he said, on the home, what street it is on, and the owner. Buyers are sensitive now to prices, he added.
Contact Matt Thompson at: mthompson@theblade.com, 419-356-8786, or on Twitter at @mthompson25.