Those long lines at Columbus-area open houses are shrinking.
In another indication that the housing market is slowing down, fewer visitors are touring homes for sale.
Columbus-area homes on the market attracted an average of 8.8 showings in June, down from 10.4 the previous month and well below 15.5 in March, according to ShowingTime, the nation’s largest service used by real-estate agents to schedule home showings.
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“Showing activity continues to be at levels lower than we’re used to seeing at this time of year, pointing to a market in transition,” said ShowingTime Vice President and General Manager Michael Lane.
Fewer buyers visiting homes for sale is national trend
The decline in Columbus home traffic mirrors a drop in traffic nationally and in other Ohio cities, ShowingTime found. U.S. homes drew an average of 6.3 visitors in June, half the number from February.
All eight Ohio markets tracked by ShowingTime also showed a decline in home traffic in June.
Despite the decline, however, Ohio homes for sale continue to draw more traffic than homes across the country. Cleveland, Akron and Toledo were among the 25 most active markets in the U.S. in June, although Columbus was not, according to ShowingTime.
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Lane and other experts expect the market to continue to slow, as high prices combined with a sharp climb in interest rates push some would-be buyers to the sidelines.
“Following the surge in mortgage rates, it’s reasonable to expect that showing activity will continue to ease, especially when compared to last year’s historic numbers,” Lane said.
So far, the Columbus-area housing market has weathered the storm, with prices up nearly 14% in the first five months of 2022 — higher than in either 2020 or 2021 — and homes selling in record time.
Still, the ShowingTime data joins growing signs that the market is softening.
Columbus-area home sales are down slightly through the first five months of the year compared with the same period last year. In addition, the number of unsold central Ohio homes has risen sharply. Last week, about 2,750 homes were listed (without being in contract) in the Columbus area, up from about 2,100 a year earlier.
In addition, despite sky-high prices, a record number of home sellers nationally dropped their asking prices in June, according to a report from the real estate service Redfin.
jweiker@dispatch.com
@JimWeiker
