(July 24, 2008) The central Ohio housing market continued to stabilize in June as the area saw it's lowest "month's supply" level since last summer, according to the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. In June, the month's supply of homes was 8.03, the lowest since August 2007, and a key indication of the area's healthy housing market, says Greg Hrabcak, President of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. "Month's supply is the ratio of inventory to sales which takes into account both supply and demand. A healthy market has a 6.5 to 7-month supply of homes, meaning if no new homes were added to the market, it would take about 6.5 or 7 months to sell all the available homes," says Hrabcak. "The fact that central Ohio's month's supply figure continues to decrease shows that the market is becoming more balanced. Buyers still have a tremendous selection, but a lower month's supply also means good news for sellers." Although there were slightly more homes on the market in June than in May, year to date totals show a 9.2 percent decrease in total homes on the market this June versus June 2007. Similarly, new listings dropped 13 percent in June compared to June 2007, and nearly seven percent from May to June 2008. "The first half of 2008 has seen steadily increasing home sales," says Hrabcak. "And there were 8.6 percent more homes sold in June than May." Year to date sales of new and existing homes through June total 10,667, 14.3 percent behind June 2007's total of 12,444, but less than six percent behind sales in the market's pre boom period, during the first half of 2003. The average sale price of homes in central Ohio increased over May by more than seven percent in June, to $180,399. | 
