Central Indiana home sales improved slightly in 2011

Home sales in the Indianapolis area were nearly flat in 2011 compared with the previous year, but showed more improvement during the last six months of the year, according to an annual housing report released Tuesday by the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors.

Closed sales last year inched up 1.2 percent in the 13 counties tracked by MIBOR, but jumped 18.3 percent from July through December, bolstered by a 7.2-percent increase during the last month of 2011.

MIBOR President Debbie Morris attributed the improving housing climate to affordable mortgage rates and increasing consumer confidence.

“I would characterize central Indiana housing in 2011 as experiencing positive transition,” she said in a prepared statement. “The strong second half of 2011 bodes well for the spring.”

New listings in the final three months of 2011 fell 14.8 percent and total active listings declined 4.9 percent.

Statewide, the number of home sales also was nearly flat, as just 220 more houses sold last year than in 2010, according to the report.

The median price of all 57,985 home sold last year in Indiana was $112,900, a 0.8-percent increase from 2010. The average price of all homes sold in 2011 was $135,183, a 1.7-percent increase from the previous year.

In central Indiana, the average sales price of homes increased by 2.4 percent, to $155,499, in 2011. The median price rose 1.6 percent, to $124,000.