By Randy Tucker
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Home sales in Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky dropped significantly in March, as the buying frenzy for single-family homes continued to cool after setting a record last year, according to area boards of Realtors.

Home, condo sales

Sales of existing homes and condominiums in March compared with the same period last year: Ohio Home sales (closings): March 2003: 1,655 March 2002: 1,859 Year to date 2003: 4,344 Year to date 2002: 4,624 Average price March 2003: $163,456 March 2002: $154,226 Kentucky Home sales (closings): March 2003: 432 March 2002: 450 Year to date 2003: 1,185 Year to date 2002: 1,075 Source: Boards of Realtors

In Southwest Ohio, sales of existing homes sold in Hamilton, Butler, Warren and Clermont counties plummeted 11 percent to 1,655 last month from 1,859 units sold in March 2002, according to the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors. That was the biggest drop in monthly home sales for the region - which accounts for up to 80 percent of Tristate sales - since 2000, when sales dipped more than 11 percent in three different months.

Meanwhile, home buying in Northern Kentucky slipped 4 percent in March to 432 homes sold, compared with 450 homes sold during the same period last year, the Northern Kentucky Association of Realtors said.

Numbers for southeastern Indiana were not available Friday.

"Consumers did not venture out (in March) to make major purchases, including housing," Kathy Overstreet, president of the Cincinnati Board of Realtors, said Friday. "We've had three years in a row of record-breaking sales, and we were in awe that it lasted as long as it did, considering that the rest of the economy basically stunk."

Last year, there were 27,904 homes sold in Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky and southeastern Indiana, setting a record for the Tristate. Those sales were fueled by tantalizingly low 30-year, fixed mortgage rates that haven't been seen since the 1960s.

The positive trend continued into the first part of the year, with single-family home sales in Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky and southeastern Indiana rising 1.28 percent in January to 1,733.

But domestic concerns about the economy, harsh weather that delayed the spring selling season and uncertainty about the impact of the war with Iraq have had a negative impact on home buying in the Tristate and across the country.

Nationwide, sales of existing homes dipped 5.6 percent in March compared to last year for the second consecutive monthly decline and the biggest decline in monthly sales since a fall of 8.8 percent last June, according to the National Association of Realtors.

But while sales were down, prices were up.

Across the country, the median existing home sales price in March was $163,100, up 6.5 percent from the same month the prior year, according to the National Association of Realtors.

In Southwest Ohio, the average sales price in March was $163,456 - up 5.9 percent from March 2002.

In Northern Kentucky, the average price of homes sold in March rose 4 percent to $141,995.

And mortgage rates have remained attractive.

The 30-year, fixed-rate loan average for March averaged 5.82 percent for the month - down from 7.07 percent last year.

"Hopefully, with the war in Iraq all but over, consumers will once again turn their interests to spending on large-ticket items," Overstreet said.

E-mail rtucker@enquirer.com