As real estate agents, we're often confronted with having to inform sellers that the price their home might sell for now is perhaps less than they paid for it, especially if they haven't owned it very long.

Since I live in and primarily work in southern Delaware County, I decided to check average home prices since 1997 when I purchased my home. Delaware County has also gone through substantial developmental growth during that period as well. People moved to the county in droves during those years, buying new homes in all the subdivisions that builders eagerly built to meet the demand.

The first chart shows the average price of the homes sold in Delaware County for the period Jan 1 thru May 31 for each of the years 1997 to 2008. In 1997, the average price for the county was $215K. It reached a high in 2007 of $300k. For 2008, the average has declined to $278K (-7.6%), but that also represents an INCREASE of 29% since 1997. So depending on when the seller purchased the home or whether they've added equity loans, they may or may not have difficulty selling and paying closing costs.

The second chart shows the actual NUMBER of homes sold in the county during the same time frame. We tend to think that fewer homes are selling than in past years, but not so says the graph. In 1997, only 525 homes sold during the Jan-May period. For this year, 712 homes have sold ... a 36% INCREASE! The highest number of homes sold in 2005 when 934 sold during this period.

Bottom line is that we're not in as bad a shape as we "feel" like we are. We just need to remember to keep things in perspective.

•  Average central Ohio home prices by school district - updated monthly
• Average central Ohio home prices by suburb subdivisions - updated monthly
• View a list of Central Ohio new home builders
• Powell Ohio area map showing key subdivisions, zip codes, growth area for new development
• Lewis Center Ohio area map showing key subdivisions, zip codes, growth area for new development
• Dublin Ohio area map showing key subdivisions, zip codes, growth area for new development
• Worthington Ohio area map
• Hilliard Ohio area map
• ElaineReese.com for lots of helpful info for home buyers and sellers
• ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate.com (my blog) for more personalized info for buyers & sellers
• View videos of Elaine's listings