Single family home building remains weak as the Commerce Department releases their housing starts data. The data, released on Tuesday, shows that housing starts increased by 1.9% to 1.319 million units, surpassing expectations of 1.262 million.
Single family home building remains weak, leaving first-time home buyers stuck in rental homes or buying flipped homes at a premium
All-time low inventory levels are causing housing prices to rise as sellers receive multiple bids for their homes. Permits are also lagging, with only one region, the Midwest, seeing an improvement in single-family home construction.
Experts predict the trend will continue, with single-family construction slowing further.
Cleveland and Akron experienced a slight dip in March homes sales. Sales increased from February’s figures but remained lower than March 2017. Buyers purchased 3,785 homes across 18 counties.
New listings are down, with homes changing hands faster thanks to high competition among buyers. Homes are sold in 85 days on average, down from the 90-day average last year. Condos are selling even faster, with the average condo sale time shaved down by 11 days.
Sales prices in the region rose 2.1% from a year prior, with the average sale price in the region being $153,301 last month. Condo prices rose from $130,309 a year prior to $133,627 in March, as more first-time homebuyers are choosing condos due to lower pricing and maintenance.
WPCO reports a story about Jennifer Bachler, an Ohioan who is dealing with what CNBC calls “masked money pits.” Bachler thought she was buying a great home two years ago from a home flipper. The home had several updated rooms, but now the “mask” is coming off, with Bachler having to pay thousands in repairs.
Her entryway ceiling collapsed, the ceiling is cracking, plaster in her bedroom closet is falling on to her clothing and the cabinet drawers that were installed are falling apart. These repairs will cost her thousands of dollars.
She claims that the repairs are piling up, with her spending over $5,000 on repairs already. The home is starting to show signs of “patching” where the seller made the home look presentable for sale, but hid needed repairs from the buyer.
The repairs have now escalated well past basic drain cleaning and include roofing repairs that an inspector claims will cost an additional $7,000. The inspector claims there are signs of the roof sagging, indicating that the beams of the home are beginning to rot.
CNBC claims that many of the couples rehabbing older homes are younger couples that don’t look at the home’s plumbing systems or roofs. The report from CNBC includes a couple that purchased a three-bedroom, three-bathroom home that received a call from city inspectors.
The couple that flipped the home never received a permit for the two-bedroom, two-bathroom addition on the back of the home. Many of the repairs were not up to compliance, with the couple estimating that they’ll have to pay an additional $100,000 to bring the home up to par.
Statewide home sales data in Ohio for the month of March will be released on April 23.
About Christian Reynolds
Christian is the chief reporter, editor, and webmaster at Cleveland Leader. An aspiring news anchor, his hobbies outside of investigative reporting are golf, martinis, and adventure travel. If you have a scoop on any developing story, please contact him on this page.
