ASHTABULA — Home sales in Ashtabula County jumped 20 percent in May compared to the prior year, but the driving force behind the sales is nothing to cheer about.

The increase came at the expense of sales price, which fell 18 percent compared to the prior year. In May 2009 the average sales price was $78,171; a year ago, it was $95,315. The county’s average sales figure was the lowest for the region and $53,670 less than the state average, which fell 8 percent in a year.

“You would think if the number of transactions go up, prices would go up, too, and it would in a healthy economy,” observes Bruce Schlosser, manager of Prudential Select Properties in Ashtabula.

Ashtabula County’s economy is far from healthy — the unemployment rate stood at 13.3 percent in May, almost 3 points higher than Ohio’s rate and more than 4 points higher than the nation’s anemic performance. Still, the 13.3 percent is a slight drop from the high of 14 percent earlier this year. Just a year ago the rate was 6.8 percent.

The glut of properties resulting from foreclosures has created some incredible bargains, said Paul Bryant, Realtor with Howard Hanna in Ashtabula Township.

“Properties that should be $60,000, $70,000 even $80,000 are going for $20,000 or less,” Bryant said. He recently saw a house in Ashtabula Harbor sell for less than 20 percent of its value.

“We’ve had in May an increase in sales in our office,” Bryant said. “Most of the sales increase came from the bank repossessions. A lot of investors were out there buying.”

Prices are low because the banks that purchased their collateral at sheriff sales are eager to get the toxic liabilities off their books, said Schlosser. It is a buyer’s market, just as it has been for the past three years.

“If you got money to put aside, this is the time to buy,” said Bryant, who is confident many of the properties being sold today will double to quadruple in value three to four years from now.

Another component of the sales up tick are first-time buyers drawn into the market with very generous federal tax credits of up to $8,000. Combined with low prices and some of the lowest interest rates in 40 years, savvy single-family, owner-occupied buyers are returning to the marketplace.

Bryant said there is still at least one zero-down option in the marketplace, but most lenders will require at least 5 percent down. Most of the fixed-rate loans are around 6 percent, but a well-qualified buyer can move in with a rate closer to 5 percent.

Schlosser said if a homeowner needs to sell in this market, the best advice he can give them is to price the house as a great value that will grab the attention of agents, who will aggressively market it to their potential buyers.

“Do not lower it in small amounts, but start right out of the gate to market it as a great value,” said Schlosser. Thus, a house with a market value of $90,000 should go on the market in the high 70s to grab attention.

“You need to make it a dramatic value for people,” he said.

Schlosser said sellers of owner-occupied homes offer buyers an advantage the bank-owned properties cannot — communication. Dealing with a bank can be tedious because it can take days or weeks to get an agreement modified or question answered. Most of the time, the lender is in another state and reaching the right person can be challenging.

“There can be a lot of friction and the time increases dramatically,” Schlosser said.

Both Bryant and Schlosser feel there won’t be a great deal of change in the local real estate picture for the balance of the year. Bargains will still abound as foreclosures continue to work onto the market. Schlosser feels there could even be a slight increase in foreclosure sales at the beginning of 2010 as defaults resulting from unemployment and unsuccessful loan modifications bring a new round of sheriff sales.

“In Ashtabula County, I don’t expect to see any great change for the rest of the year, but I don’t see any declines (in sales),” Bryant said. “But in 2010 we’re going to really see some changes. They might not be fast changes, but we’re going to see some changes.”