The market for buying and selling homes has been as interesting as it can get the past few years in Columbus, and The Dispatch has been chronicling it all. From accelerating price increases to investor robo-calls to the disappearance of the $200,000 starter home, the home sales scene has been on quite a ride since 2020 (and really, a few years before that). Cash is king when home equity has grown fat and stock returns are handsome (at least until mid-May, that was). So that means plenty of investor activity and regular mortgage-having buyers having even more trouble landing that home they love, even as interest rates are going up.

Here's The Dispatch's coverage of home sales, the region's affordable housing crisis, resources for homeowners and a peek into life on the luxury homes circuit.

The crazy Columbus housing market

When you combine surging demand for homes as the Columbus region's population grows with a limited inventory of homes for sale, you get the crazy housing market we've seen since 2020. Buyers are duking it out, leaping into contract just minutes after seeing a place, offering tens of thousands over asking price, waiving inspections, and being willing to pay even more than an appraiser says the home is worth. (Readers, please note that real estate professionals do not recommend some of these practices, but acknowledge they are how many buyers win contracts in this feeding frenzy.)

Those trends and more are covered by Dispatch real estate reporter Jim Weiker, who reported nearly one in four Columbus-area homes were bought with cash in January and February, continuing the pandemic rise of all-cash purchases. Read on for his coverage.

What's happening in Columbus real estate?

• 'I want a family in there': Homeowners battle investors by refusing to sell to them

• More Columbus home buyers paying in cash, continuing the pandemic rise  

• Whitehall real estate is white-hot. Homebuyers say properties are affordable, convenient

• Long-vacant Value City property in Northeast Columbus could become housing factory

• Is Upper Arlington really Ohio's priciest suburb? That's what Travel + Leisure says  

• HER Realtors to become Howard Hanna after 66 years serving Columbus area

• Should corporations be limited in how many houses they can buy? Ohio lawmaker says yes

• House dating to 1825 among sites on Columbus Landmarks endangered list

• Behind the restoration of the Circus House in Columbus' Victorian Village

• Couple restores endangered Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired home in Blacklick

Columbus' affordable housing crisis

Columbus home prices have been rising quickly for years amid surging demand and a low supply. And in just the past year, skyrocketing mortgage rates and home prices have pushed the cost to buy a typical Franklin County home up about $500 a month, or more than 50%, from a year ago.

In the past year, interest rates on a 30-year mortgage have risen from 2.94% to an average of 5.375%. At the same time, the median price of a Franklin County home rose from $220,000 to $260,000, according to the Franklin County Auditor.

That means a typical Franklin County buyer putting 10% down would pay $1,310 a month in principal and interest today, compared with $828 a year ago, a jump of 58%. Those payments don't include taxes, home or mortgage insurance or other monthly housing costs.

Central Ohio's growing affordable housing crisis

Here's more coverage of the region's growing affordable housing crisis:

• Columbus housing authority laying off up to 47 workers by outsourcing voucher program  

• Don't qualify for low-income housing but can't afford more? Try Darby Crossing. This multimillion-dollar affordable housing development on Columbus' Far West Side is the latest in a series of efforts to address what officials call a housing crisis in Greater Columbus.

• New homes selling for over $500,000 near Nationwide Children's Hospital. Are more to come?

• Owner of Columbus East Side apartment complex ordered to fix over 280 code violations  

• Judge fines owners of Colonial Village Apartments $50,000 for not fixing code violations  

• Obetz wants to offer tax incentives for housing; Franklin County says it will hurt social services

Resources for Columbus homeowners

You've got a house, now what? You've got to take care of it. Whether that's keeping the landscaping beds mulched or keeping your taxes straight, there's a lot to know. It might not seem like it needs explaining, but did you know there's actually a right way to mulch? In addition to weed control, mulches help to retain soil moisture, moderate soil temperatures, prevent soil erosion and provide organic matter to the soil. Organic mulches offer many benefits over synthetic, but they require more maintenance. Here's what to know about mulching.

Tips for helping your home

• Long waits remain for homeowners seeking remodelers

• Gardening: How to control poison hemlock, one of North America's 'deadliest' plants  

• Ask the Expert: 6 tips for creating a tick-free zone in your yard  

• Gardening: Spring lawn maintenance should include weed control, reseeding, fertilizer    Gardening: Invasive Asian jumping worms are wreaking havoc in Ohio soils  

• Gardening: Deceptively beautiful Bradford pear tree grows into an invasive nuisance  

• What the Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates means to your wallet  

• Ohio commuter tax: Should you file for a local refund if you've been working from home?  

• Surging fertilizer costs hit farmers, small businesses, homeowners  

• Gardening: Want bigger and sweeter fruit? Our 10 tips for pruning fruit trees can help 

• Nature: 'Mammals of Ohio' features facts, figures and more about Ohio's furry denizens    April tasks: Things homeowners should do this month, inside and outside!  

• Gardening: 5 varieties of witch hazel to consider based on fragrance and color  

Highest-priced Columbus home sales

A few times a month, the Dispatch's data and features editors put together a list of the highest-priced home sales as reported to county recorders in Franklin and surrounding counties. From 1970s super-ranches along the Scioto River to new-build luxury in New Albany to character-rich Tudor homes in north Bexley, the region has no shortage of beautiful properties. And they, like the rest of our housing inventory, are getting more expensive every day. Even so, buyers are lining up for the chance to own their 5,000-square-foot-plus piece of paradise, complete with a pool, double showers, lush professional landscaping and, of course, a tony school district.

Where have the highest-priced homes been sold in central Ohio?

• The highest-priced homes sold in Greater Columbus, and recorded in late March

• The top-selling homes sold in Greater Columbus, and recorded in late February

• Top 10 luxury homes for sale in Columbus offer indoor pools, wine cellars and in-law suites

• The top-selling properties in Greater Columbus that were recorded in April 

• The top-selling homes sold in Greater Columbus, and recorded in mid-March

• Top-selling homes sold in Greater Columbus includes $1.7 million property in Delaware County

• Top-selling homes sold in Greater Columbus includes $915,000 property in Delaware County  

• The top-selling properties in Greater Columbus that were recorded in early April

• Top-selling homes sold in Greater Columbus includes $1.65 million property in Franklin County

• Top-selling homes sold in Greater Columbus includes $1.75 million property in Franklin County

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus' hot home sales market and affordable housing crisis