Real estate trade group: Ohio home sales, prices rise in October as tax credit fuels market

Industry group: Ohio home sales rise in October

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Home sales have risen in Ohio and across the country thanks to first-time buyers rushing to take advantage of an expiring tax credit.

The Ohio Association of Realtors says 10,090 new and existing homes sold in the state during October, up 3.6 percent from the number that changed hands in September.

The trade group says the statewide average sale price last month was nearly $132,600, down 1 percent from September but 0.7 percent higher than the average of about $131,700 paid in October 2008.

The $8,000 tax incentive had been set to expire Nov. 30 before Congress provided an extension earlier this month. Ohio Association of Realtors President Jonathan Hall says that should help to keep momentum going in the state’s housing market.