Central Ohio has more homes on the market than at any point in the last decade. Columbus REALTORS counted 6,193 homes for sale across its multiple listing service at the end of July, up 9.8% from 5,638 a year earlier. The last time the listing count was higher was August 2016, when the same monthly report showed 6,270.
The July count is the headline in the association’s latest housing report, released in August and covering the full central Ohio MLS footprint: all of Franklin, Delaware, Licking, Union, Fayette, Madison, Morrow and Pickaway counties plus parts of Fairfield and several others. The August report is due around Sept. 20.
More homes, but still a tight market
A bigger inventory has not turned into a buyer’s market. At July’s sales pace the region had 2.4 months of supply, up only slightly from 2.3 a year ago. That is the number of months it would take to sell every listed home if nothing new came on the market. Homes still went under contract fast, with a typical 28 days on the market before sale compared with 27 last July, and sellers collected 97.5% of their original asking price.
Prices kept climbing, too. The median sale price was $350,000, up 2.3% from $342,000 in July 2025. The average sale price was $404,335.
The extra inventory did line up with more movement. Closed sales reached 3,083 in July, a 6.3% gain over the 2,899 recorded a year earlier. New listings rose 3.4% to 3,943. Through the first seven months of the year, closed sales are up 3.0%.
Columbus versus the country
The national picture is flatter. The National Association of REALTORS reported on Aug. 11 that U.S. existing-home sales in July were up 0.7% from a year earlier and down 1.7% from June. The national median price was $434,100, and the country had a 4.6-month supply of unsold homes.
Carlie Boos, executive director of the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio, told NBC4 the local report is a positive sign but not a finished job. “The city of Columbus, when it comes to housing, is doing better than the nation as a whole,” Boos said. She tied the price pressure to the shortage of homes for sale: “Housing is supply and demand 101, when there are more people who want to buy a home than there are homes for sale, those prices are going to go up and up and up.”
County by county
Franklin County drove most of the growth. Sales there jumped 11.8% to 1,557, and inventory rose 10.2% to 2,738 homes, while the median price edged up 1.3% to $334,450. Delaware County saw the sharpest inventory jump among the big suburban counties, up 19.2% to 663 homes, and its median price slipped 0.6% to $520,000. Licking County moved the other way, with 6.7% fewer homes for sale than a year ago.
| County | Homes for sale | Change vs. July 2025 | Closed sales | Median price |
| Franklin | 2,738 | +10.2% | 1,557 | $334,450 |
| Delaware | 663 | +19.2% | 340 | $520,000 |
| Licking | 429 | -6.7% | 216 | $350,000 |
| Fairfield | 380 | +15.5% | 193 | $388,450 |
| Union | 231 | +13.2% | 104 | $475,000 |
Union County posted the highest median in the group at $475,000, while Fairfield County’s median climbed 9.0% to $388,450 even as its sales fell 4.0%.
For a look at the top of the July market, see the most expensive homes sold in Franklin County in July. The full monthly reports, including city and school district breakdowns, are on the Columbus REALTORS housing reports page.
