The typical Columbus homeowner who sold their home last year received $85,000 more than they paid for it, according to a new study by the real estate service Attom Data Solutions.

That's $15,000 more than the previous year, and the highest margin since Irvine, California-based Attom started tracking the figure in 2008.

Attom found that a typical Columbus-area homeowner sold their home for $245,000, after paying $160,000 for it six to seven years earlier, for a 53% gain.

Nationally, home sellers in 2021 realized an average of $94,092 profit on their homes, up 45% from the previous year, according to Attom, which strictly considers purchase and sales price in its calculation, and not improvements or other costs.

“What a year 2021 was for home sellers and the housing market all around the U.S.," Todd Teta, chief product officer at Attom, said in a news release. "Prices went through the roof, kicking profits and profit margins up at a pace not seen for at least a decade."

Margins rise across Ohio as home prices surge amid COVID-19

Home prices in Columbus and elsewhere have risen sharply during the pandemic, as buyers seek more space and take advantage of low interest rates.

Columbus-area profit margins led he state, but margins were up across Ohio. In Akron, the typical home sold for $52,000 more than the purchase price; in Canton, $48,225; in Cincinnati, $66,524; in Cleveland, $35,100; in Dayton, $59,895; in Toledo, $35,000; and in Youngstown, $38,600.

Western cities saw the greatest return on investment, led by Boise, Idaho, where the typical homeowner sold their home for $430,438 last year after buying it for $236,397, a 122% gain.

In dollar terms, California homeowners reaped the biggest gains, led by sellers in San Jose, who sold their homes for an average of $575,000 more than they paid, followed by San Francisco, where sellers fetched $462,000 more than purchase price.

All that good news for sellers means tough news for buyers, a dynamic likely to continue this year, even though price hikes are expected to moderate some.

"No doubt, there are warning signs that the surge could slow down this year," Teta said. "But 2021 will go down as one of the greatest years for sellers and one of the toughest for buyers.”

Buyers may find the going particularly tough in Columbus, which was forecast to be one of the nation's five hottest housing markets in 2022.

jweiker@dispatch.com

@JimWeiker

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus home profit data for 2021 shows sales brought $85,000