West Dayton’s housing story keeps getting written one closing at a time, and the Northwest side keeps adding strong lines. At 1312 Canfield Avenue in Cornell Heights, a 1940 three-bedroom drew $170,000 in 15 days, the second-highest price among the neighborhood’s last ten sales.
A $170,000 Close on Canfield Avenue
West Dayton’s housing market rarely moves on a single headline. It moves on closings like the one recorded on October 13, 2026 at 1312 Canfield Avenue, where a single-family home in Cornell Heights sold for $170,000. The list price was $164,900, so the final number landed $5,100, or 3.1 percent, above what the seller asked.
It got there quickly. The home spent 15 days on the market, about a week faster than the Cornell Heights median of 21.5 days across the past twelve months. A quick sale above list price says the asking number was set where buyers were already looking, and that at least one of them was ready to act rather than wait for a reduction.
The rank is the achievement. Of the 10 Cornell Heights sales recorded over the past 12 months, this one sits at 2 of 10 by price, and it finished 55 percent above the neighborhood median of $110,000. For a neighborhood in Dayton’s Northwest priority board area, that is a strong data point for sellers, buyers, appraisers and lenders who are all trying to read the same market.
Behind the number is a plain, practical house: three bedrooms, a fireplace, a kitchen with stainless appliances, an attached garage and a basement that has not been finished yet. Those details help explain why it drew a full-price-plus offer in barely two weeks.
A 1940 Home With Room to Spread Out
The house was built in 1940 and offers 1,239 square feet of living space, with three bedrooms and one and a half bathrooms. At $170,000, the sale works out to $137 per square foot. The Cornell Heights median over the past twelve months is $104 per square foot, which means this home commanded roughly a third more per square foot than the typical sale around it.
That premium is worth pausing on, because square footage alone does not explain it. Plenty of Cornell Heights homes are close to this size. What separates this one, based on the listing, is the combination of features that buyers tend to pay for: a fireplace in the living room, a separate dining room, updated kitchen finishes, an attached garage with direct access, and a flexible bonus room that adds usable space beyond the bedroom count.
Houses from 1940 tend to carry a particular kind of appeal. The layouts are traditional, with defined rooms rather than one big open space, and the details, such as an arched hallway, give the interior a sense of character that newer construction often has to imitate. The listing describes classic architecture paired with modern living, and the sale price suggests buyers agreed that the pairing was worth paying for.
A home in this size range also sits in the sweet spot of the local market. It is large enough to feel like a full house, with sleeping space on two levels, yet compact enough that the purchase stays within reach of a wide range of buyers. In a neighborhood where the median sale is $110,000, a price of $170,000 shows that well-presented, well-configured homes can pull well past the middle of the pack.
Inside: Fireplace, Arched Hallway and a Working Kitchen
The listing walks through the main level in order. A welcoming entryway leads to an arched hallway, and wood-look flooring runs throughout the first floor, giving the rooms a consistent, easy-to-maintain surface from front to back. That kind of continuity matters to buyers touring several homes in a weekend, because it reads as finished and ready.
The living room is anchored by a classic fireplace, the sort of feature that gives a room an obvious focal point and a place to arrange furniture around. It flows into a dining room the listing describes as versatile, which is a useful word for a space that can serve as a table for meals, a home office or a play area depending on who lives there next.
The kitchen is where many buyers make up their minds. This one has white cabinetry, wood countertops and stainless steel appliances, a combination that pairs a bright, clean look with a warmer natural material. It is a practical, current-looking kitchen for a home of this size, and it does not require the new owner to plan an immediate renovation before moving in.
One of the three bedrooms is on the main floor, with a large bonus room above it, according to the listing. A main-floor bedroom is a flexible asset. It can serve as a guest room, a first-floor primary bedroom or a home office, and it gives the house a layout that works for people who would rather not climb stairs every day. The bonus room adds another layer of flexibility, whether that becomes a den, a studio, a hobby space or a place for a desk.
Sloped Ceilings Upstairs and a Basement Ready for a Plan
Upstairs, the listing describes two bedrooms with plush carpeting, sloped ceilings and abundant natural light. Sloped ceilings are a signature of homes from this era, where the roofline shapes the upper floor, and they tend to give bedrooms a cozy, tucked-in feel that many buyers specifically look for. Carpeted floors upstairs and wood-look flooring below give the house a clear division between living space and sleeping space.
Below it all is an unfinished basement, which the listing frames as significant potential for customization. For a buyer, that is a sort of built-in option. The finished footprint is 1,239 square feet, but the foundation underneath offers room to add a recreation space, a workshop, storage or a laundry setup over time, on the owner’s schedule and budget. An unfinished basement lets a buyer put money where it matters to them rather than paying up front for someone else’s choices.
The attached garage rounds out the practical side. The listing calls it functional, with direct access into the house and essential storage. In a Dayton winter, a garage that connects to the home is a daily convenience: groceries, bags and gear move from car to kitchen without a trip across the yard. The storage it provides also keeps the rest of the home clear.
Taken together, the features make a home that is move-in ready on the main levels and open-ended below. That combination, finished where buyers expect it and unfinished where they might want a say, is often a strong formula in the first-time and move-up price ranges that dominate Cornell Heights.
How $170,000 Compares With Cornell Heights
Start with the neighborhood figures. Over the past 12 months, Cornell Heights has recorded 10 sales with a median price of $110,000, a median of $104 per square foot and a median of 21.5 days on the market. Against each of those benchmarks, 1312 Canfield Avenue came out ahead: $170,000 is 55 percent above the median price, $137 per square foot is well above the median rate, and 15 days beats the typical timeline by more than six days.
The price rank carries the most weight. A 2 of 10 finish means that only one Cornell Heights sale in the past year closed for more. In a small sample, with a total of ten sales, each strong result moves the picture noticeably, and this one adds a high mark to the upper end of the range that appraisers and buyers will reference.
The sold-versus-list gap matters too. The home was listed at $164,900 and sold $5,100 above that. A seller who prices at a figure the market accepts immediately, and then sees a competing or strengthened offer, has priced correctly. It is a healthier signal than a price that sits for months and then drops, because the final number reflects what a buyer chose to pay rather than what a seller was forced to accept.
For West Dayton more broadly, results like this reinforce a pattern worth tracking. When a home with a clear set of features, a sensible list price and a clean presentation closes quickly and above ask, it shows that buyer demand on the Northwest side is responsive to quality. It is not simply a story of low prices. It is a story of buyers paying more when the home earns it.
The Closest Comparable Sales
The nearest comparison among recent sales is a three-bedroom on Earlham Drive that closed at $144,900 on August 23, 2026. It offers 1,199 square feet, only 40 square feet less than Canfield, and it works out to about $121 per square foot. The Canfield sale came in $25,100 higher with a slightly larger footprint, and at $137 per square foot it commanded a clear step up in the rate as well. That Earlham sale was itself one of the stronger results of the summer, which makes the gap more meaningful.
A three-bedroom on Philadelphia Drive sold for $108,000 on May 21, 2026, with 1,056 square feet, about $102 per square foot. A larger three-bedroom on Shakespeare Avenue, at 1,436 square feet, closed at $112,000 on June 30, 2026, which is roughly $78 per square foot. The Shakespeare home has nearly 200 more square feet than 1312 Canfield, yet it sold for $58,000 less, an indication that size alone is not what sets prices in Cornell Heights. Features, layout and presentation play a major role.
That is the lesson of this group of sales. Buyers in Cornell Heights are looking closely at what they get for the money: the fireplace, the updated kitchen, the garage, the flexible bonus space and the unfinished basement all contribute. The Canfield home put all of those on the table at once, and the market answered.
The spread across these comps, from roughly $108,000 to $145,000 for similar three-bedroom homes before this sale, gives the $170,000 result a clear place in the picture. It sits above that cluster, and it now becomes part of the set of recent sales that the next seller, buyer and appraiser will look at when pricing a similar home in the neighborhood.
What the Result Means for Cornell Heights and West Dayton
One sale does not make a trend, but it does shape expectations. When the second-highest sale among ten in a year closes at $170,000 in just 15 days, sellers in Cornell Heights who are weighing whether to invest in a fresh kitchen, durable flooring or a clean presentation get a reason to do it. Buyers, in turn, see that there are homes in the neighborhood worth competing for.
For lenders and appraisers, the sale supplies a recent, well-documented comparable. A three-bedroom, 1,239-square-foot home with an attached garage and an unfinished basement now has a closing price attached to it, at a rate of $137 per square foot. Future appraisals on similar homes can point to it as evidence that the market supports numbers above the neighborhood median when the home delivers on condition and layout.
It also fits the larger West Dayton story. Across the Northwest side, the recurring theme is that buyers are finding value in established neighborhoods with solid, older housing stock, and that homes presented well are moving. A home built in 1940 selling above list after two weeks is a small but concrete piece of evidence for that case.
The takeaway for Cornell Heights is encouraging without being complicated. A neighborhood with a median price of $110,000 is showing that its upper range is active and that buyers will pay real money for a home that checks the right boxes. That is how neighborhood values grow: one well-priced, well-presented sale at a time, each giving the next owner more confidence to invest.
Recognizing the Professionals Behind the Outcome
Listing agent Matthew Edge of Plum Tree Realty brought the home to market, and Tim O’Bryant of Irongate Inc. represented the buyer. Results like this come from careful pricing, strong presentation and steady work through closing, and both sides of the deal deserve recognition.
Listing data courtesy of Dayton REALTORS® MLS. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
More Common Questions About Cornell Heights
Here are answers to common questions about this sale and the Cornell Heights housing market, based on the sale and the past twelve months of neighborhood data.
How much did 1312 Canfield Avenue sell for?
The home sold for $170,000 on October 13, 2026. The list price was $164,900, so it closed $5,100, or 3.1 percent, above asking after 15 days on the market.
How does the price compare with the typical Cornell Heights sale?
Over the past 12 months, Cornell Heights recorded 10 sales with a median price of $110,000. At $170,000, this sale finished about 55 percent above that median and ranks 2 of 10 by price.
What is the price per square foot?
The home has 1,239 square feet of living space, which works out to about $137 per square foot. The neighborhood median over the past twelve months is about $104 per square foot.
What does the home offer?
It was built in 1940 and has three bedrooms and one and a half bathrooms. The listing describes a living room with a fireplace, a dining room, a kitchen with white cabinets, wood countertops and stainless appliances, a main-floor bedroom with a bonus room above, two upstairs bedrooms with sloped ceilings, an unfinished basement and an attached garage.
How fast did it sell compared with other Cornell Heights homes?
It took 15 days on the market. The median for Cornell Heights over the past 12 months is 21.5 days, so this home sold about a week faster than the typical listing.
Are there other homes of similar size that sold recently nearby?
Yes. A three-bedroom, 1,199-square-foot home on Earlham Drive sold for $144,900 on August 23, 2026, and a three-bedroom, 1,056-square-foot home on Philadelphia Drive sold for $108,000 on May 21, 2026. A larger 1,436-square-foot three-bedroom on Shakespeare Avenue sold for $112,000 on June 30, 2026.
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