Ohio REALTORS reports the number of single-family homes and condominiums put under agreement in December 2017 reached a best-ever level for the month, increasing a slight 0.1 percent from the level posted during the month a year ago.

Ohio's December Pending Home Sales Index of 163.5, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, increased 0.1 percent from December 2016 (163.4). Activity in December decreased 10.7 percent from the record pace of agreements reached in November 2017 (183.1).

The Pending Sales Index posted during the fourth quarter 2017 (186.4) tops all quarters reached throughout 2017, besting first quarter (147.3), second quarter (160.4) and third quarter activity (169.0). The fourth quarter 2017 pace reached the highest index for all quarters since Ohio REALTORS began recording statewide data in 2008.

"The Ohio housing market is continuing to display tremendous resiliency, as the number of homes put under contract in December reached an all-time high for the month," said Ohio REALTORS President Tiffany Meyer. "Ohio's REALTOR community helped a record-setting number of consumers navigate through the complexities of the home buying process in 2017 and, as a result, helped strengthen communities across the Buckeye State."

The rate of homes put under contract reached a record annualized level in 2017 of 162.8, a 0.5 increase from the previous high set a year earlier of 162.0.

Compared to 2008, a historically healthy market that marked the end of five consecutive record years for existing home sales and the onset of the recession, December's Index score of 163.5 marks a 63.5 increase.

A pending sale or a sale "under agreement" is when the buyer and seller agree on terms of the sale of a home and have a signed purchase and sale agreement, but have yet to close and be recorded as such.

Ohio REALTORS, the largest professional trade association in the state with more than 32,000 members, is the only organization that compiles this state wide information from selected Multiple Listing Services each month. The tracking of "pending sales" provides reliable information about where the market is heading in coming months.