Toledo is one of several metropolitan areas that have experienced improved housing markets recently, according to the First American Improving Markets Index (IMI) released Dec. 6 by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

The number of improving markets continued to expand with 20 new additions on the IMI list in December, including Toledo and Canton, Ohio; Ann Arbor, Mich. Fort Wayne, Ind.  and Washington, D.C.

“The increases we continue to see in the number and geographic diversity of improving markets are quite encouraging and evidence of the fact that all housing markets are dependent on uniquely local factors,” said NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen, a homebuilder from Reno, Nev.

Nielsen said 21 states and the District of Columbia are represented on the improving markets list in December, up from 14 states in November.

“The December IMI results are in keeping with the latest government housing data and our own builder surveys, which have shown modest signs of improvement in certain individual markets where employment is gaining and distressed properties are not as numerous,” NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe said.

13 villas have been sold at Brooklyn Park in the past nine months.

“These gradual improvements are now becoming evident not just in small, energy-producing metros that have previously dominated the IMI, but also in several larger markets and areas with more diverse economies,” Crowe said.

The IMI index is designed to track housing markets that are showing signs of improved economic health. It identifies metropolitan areas that have shown improvement in the number of home building permits, growing employment and price appreciation or increase in home values for at least six consecutive months.

Bill Brennan, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association (HBA) of Greater Toledo, said this area has seen some improvement in the housing market in 2011.

The Toledo metropolitan market usually builds from 1,500 to 2,000 new homes per year, but has averaged only 400 annually during the past three years, according to James Moline, president of James E. Moline Builders and past president of the local HBA.

“There has been so much pent up demand from the past three years. Those people didn’t go away but just delayed their purchases. Many of those people are now looking to buy homes,” Moline said.

He said his company has sold 13 villas in the Brooklyn Park development on Dorr Street in the past nine months. The villas for seniors age 55-plus sell in the range from $120,000 to $130,000.

Moline Builders has seven homes under construction at the Deer Valley development in Monclova Township in the $300,000 to $600,000 range. Moline said the company has additional homes under construction in Sylvania in the $900,000 to $2 million range.

“Construction costs are down now so it’s a good time to build a home,” Moline said.

He also said if the housing market continues to recover, it could create a problem since the number of builders and skilled tradespeople is down about 50 percent in the Toledo market. Demand could eventually outpace the supply of new homes, Moline said.

“Consumer confidence is rising and the job market is improving here. Everyone is busy which is very unusual for real estate in December,” said Barbara Stout of the Danberry Company, who was instated as president of the Toledo Board of Realtors on Dec. 1.

“Interest rates are historically low and good news creates more good news. We hope 2012 will continue to grow and be another successful year,” Stout said.

Home sales in the Toledo market have shown modest improvement during 2011, according to information supplied by the Northwest Ohio Real Estate Information System (NORIS) Multiple Listing Service.

NORIS reports that 5,838 single-family homes have been sold in the Northwest Ohio MLS market year-to-date in 2011, an increase of 2 percent over the 5,719 sold during the same period in 2010. Home sales increased 10 percent compared to last November with an increase of 6 percent in the average prices in November 2011.

The total volume of home sales increased by 1 percent from $588 million in 2010 to $592 million in 2011. The average price of homes sold fell 1 percent from $102,849 in 2010 to $101,496 in 2011.

Tags: Barbara Stout, Danberry Company, First American Improving Markets Index, National Association of Home Builders, Toledo Board of Realtors

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 15th, 2011 at 3:11 pm and is filed under Housing, Real Estate, Toledo Business Link.
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New car sales are up in Lucas County for 2011.

Through the end of June, 10,795 new cars have been sold, compared to 9,393 through June 2010 and 9,247 in 2009.

According to the Lucas County Clerk of Courts office, which compiles the numbers, the monthly average to date is 1,799 new cars, as compared to averages of 1,566 for the first half of 2010 and 1,541 for 2009.

June was the best month this year and second best in the past three with 2,098 new cars sold.

Dave White Chevy has seen a 36 percent increase in sales, said Dave White Jr., the dealership’s president and a board member of the Ohio Automobile Dealers Association.

But White said several local dealerships have disappeared within the last year.

“We are selling the same amount or a little bit more with less brands and dealers,” he said. “Those numbers are being absorbed by the dealers that are left in the metro area.”   Other brands have suffered, he said, particularly from Japanese makers such as Toyota, Honda and Acura due to Japan’s recent tsunami.

Enthusiasm about the gains is tempered, said Dan Zinni, who is in charge of finance for the Toledo Automobile Dealers Association.

“That’s coming off a downer of a year or two, but speaking with our guys, they’re cautiously optimistic we’re turning the corner,” he said.

Meanwhile, home foreclosures — at a total of 1,350 — are significantly down, with 668 fewer than this time last year and 932 fewer than in 2009.

“We took a little deeper look at those numbers, and they’ve been coming down consistently,” said Ed Sitter, president of the Toledo Board of Realtors. “We’re very encouraged by that.”

The shocks of unemployment have flushed through the system, he said, opening the opportunity for people to take advantage of lower interest rates. In addition, home prices have stabilized and supply and demand for homes have come into balance.

“I think there is a very fragile recovery taking place,” he said. “I think we are going to see an increase [in] the amount of sales over last year in the months of July, August and September.”

Tags: Dave White Chevrolet, Lucas County, Lucas County Clerk of Courts, new car sales, Patrick Timmis, Toledo Automobile Dealers Association, Toledo Board of Realtors

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 16th, 2011 at 10:41 am and is filed under Nuts and Bolts, Wheels.
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