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Sales of existing homes in central Indiana have fallen for 24 straight months on a year-over-year basis, but the market showed signs of improvement in January amid a small decline in mortgage rates.
Closed existing-home sales in the 16-county area dropped from 1,628 in January 2023 to 1,589 in January 2024, a decline of 2.4%, according to the latest data from the MIBOR Realtor Association. That was a big improvement from the performance of the market in 2023, when year-over-year sales dropped 18%.
The average rate for a 30-year mortgage fell to as low as 6.60% in January, down from nearly 7.80% in early November, according to Freddie Mac.
“Declining mortgage rates brought consumers back to the table in January,” MIBOR CEO Shelley
Specchio said in written remarks. “While the decline was noticeable and helped create a welcomed
increase in market activity, rates began to inch back upward in February.”
Meanwhile, the median sale price for a home in the area rose 1.9%, to $280,00, in January.
The active inventory of homes plummeted from 4,571 in January 2023 to 3,325 last month, a 27.3% tumble.
There were 2,052 new listings in January, down 2.7% from 2,108 listings that came on line in January 2023.
On average, sellers received 97.2% of their asking price in January, up from 97.1% a year ago.
Marion County
In Marion County, closed sales in January were up 1.9% from a year ago, to 588. The median sales price in the county rose 6.7% from a year ago, to $230,000.
Other area counties
In Hamilton County, sales dropped 3.8%, to 304, amid a dwindling inventory. The median sales price in the county crept up 2.7%, to $433,959.
In Hendricks County, sales shrank 6%, to 142, and the median sales price rose 7.9%, to $339,947.
In Johnson County, sales fell 11.5%, to 100, and the median sales price jumped 8.3%, to $313,950.
Sales increased 8.5% in Madison County, to 102. The median sales price was up 8.7%, to $162,500.
Sales in Boone County slipped 1.8%, to 56, while the median price ticked up 2.4%, to $362,500.
Hancock County sales dropped 13%, to 60. The median price slipped 4.1%, to $288,942.
Morgan County sales decreased 16.7%, to 45, and the median sales price jumped 13.5%, to $295,000.
Shelby County saw a 22.7% increase in closed sales, to 27. The median price rose 4%, to $217,000.
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It’s called supply and demand
The central Indiana population growth rate is slowing. Too many
people moving to the sunbelt region.
It is supply and demand, but it is not because there are fewer people moving here. The problem is that there are not enough homes for sale for people to buy. People are not putting their homes on the market and we have more buyers than homes. The inventory currently stands at around one month of available homes. The usual inventory is around 4-6 months. Were we to have fewer people moving here, it would ease the problem.
I really think the IBJ and just about everyone else who reports on residential real estate does a disservice by the head line “Sales of existing homes in central Indiana reach two-year slump” It makes it sound to the consumer like the residential market is actually down. And the question is from whose perspective. To me the headline ought to be “Low Inventory continues to dominate the residential market.” It sounds like prices are down…i know u state they are not but one has to get past the head line…and it is still a hugely great market for sellers. In areas of high effective demand there are still situations in which there are multiple offers. There are more than a few paid over list price deals. Tons of paid 100% ask. A full 30-40% (again depending on the market and level of effective demand) selling in 10 days or less.
Merrill is correct!
Exactly and well said!