Ind. — The number of homes being sold in Indiana is beginning to slow.
Many times during the past year, buying a home meant quick action and often times no inspection.
New market numbers show the playing field is being leveled for buyers and sellers.
In the past year, Central Indiana's housing inventory increased by roughly 80%.
Realtor Laura Turner says that's because inventory was so low and there was significantly higher demand.
"We are coming out of a really tough market essentially," Turner said. "It definitely gives them the opportunity to get back to the norm essentially of having appraisals, having inspections, being able to ask for repairs."
For Amy Hershman and her family, finding a new home was a bit challenging.
"We actually had been looking at homes for over two years," Hershman said. "There were a few that we put in an offer and in the way that the sale was written it had stated as is which made me incredibly nervous."
They made offers on several homes, but were outbid or didn't feel the price was right.
"There was a great deal of risk and it was an uncomfortable process that we had not been through before," Hershman said.
There has been an increase in the price of homes sold in the past year. FC Tucker data show the average November home sale price for the central Indiana region was nearly $311,000. That's an increase of nearly 8% compared to last November.
"The timing for us was perfect, because we were able to maximize our investment and our equity in our current home and buy the home that was the right fit for us right now at a very fair price. Therefore we maximized our overall investment," Hershman said.
The average interest rate on a 30 year fixed mortgage is high at 6.6%.
"When do you ever have the opportunity to buy low and sell high? I really think that's kind of the opportunity that we have in this window right now," Turner said.
Turner said the high interest rate shouldn't prevent you from buying.
"It's so cliche, they say date the rate, marry the house. It's the absolute truth though. You can refinance in 6 months, you can refinance in 3 months if the interest rates come down and it makes sense," Turner said.
FC Tucker data:
In November 2022, 2,381 central Indiana homes were purchased, down 31.5% from the 3,478 sold in November 2021.
Specifically:
· None of central Indiana’s 16 counties had an increase in pended home sales in November 2022.
· Morgan County has the smallest decrease in pended home sales with a 10% decrease compared to November 2021.
· Jennings County pended sales had the greatest decrease with 53.8% fewer homes sold in November 2022 compared to this time last year.
Central Indiana year-to-date home sale prices continued to increase:
· Morgan County recorded the highest average year-to-date home sale price increase at 56.%.
· Hamilton County had the highest average year-to-date home sale price in the region at $475,931.
· Homes sold in 19 days on average, which is 5.6% slower than in 2021. Hamilton County homes left the market 11.1%, or two days, more quickly than in 2021 – selling the fastest in the 16-county central Indiana area.
Central Indiana experienced an 80.6% increase in overall available home inventory in November 2022, with 2,107 more homes available for sale than in November 2021.
· Hamilton County had the largest inventory increase – up 218% compared to November 2021.
· Decatur County experienced the largest decrease in inventory – down 20.8% compared to this time last year.
Editor’s Notes:
· All statistics were compiled by F.C. Tucker Company from a report drawn from BLC® statistics on December 5, 2022. Because of delayed processing through other agencies or boards, these numbers are subject to change.
· Effective April 7, 2019, data from MIBOR only reports on single family homes and excludes condo sales. F.C. Tucker will continue to include condo sales in this report.
· “Pending” means the sales contract has been signed, but the transaction has not closed. According to the NAR, pending sales typically are finalized within a month or two of signing.
· “Active Listings – Inventory” is a snapshot frozen in time at the end of the stated month. Per MIBOR, effective April 1, 2018, “Active with Contingency” no longer is a status in the BLC® listing service in order to present a true picture in advertising and marketing. Those listings that were in the "Active with Contingency" status have been moved from the "Active" status to the "Pending" status.
· For this report, F.C. Tucker tracks the following counties: Bartholomew, Boone, Brown, Decatur, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Jackson, Jennings, Johnson, Madison, Marion, Montgomery, Morgan, Putnam and Shelby. The first report tracking Jackson County data was pulled August 7, 2019.
