Indianapolis Real Estate Matters

With the extension of the home buyer tax credit through April 30^th of this year, the first four months of the year were outstanding! (Sales were up 25% to 50% in each of the first four months.) Historically, about 35% of the sales in the market are first time home buyers - with the stimulus package it jumped into the mid 40% range. I can remember many of you saying to me during March and April that you were as busy as you’ve ever been. We projected that when the stimulus package expired April 30^th that sales would drop off approximately 10% the month of May - we missed the boat on that projection! Sales in May, for the real estate board, were off over 30% and that trend continued into June with sales being off approximately 30%.

In further analysis of why sales were off, the number of sales that were compressed into the first four months of the year, with the stimulus package, caused May and June to be softer. We are hoping that the second six months of the year will be similar to the second six months of last year. If all of you remember, the market started picking up this time last year and allowed us to have a good year. Currently our unit sales are up approximately 25% over the same period last year; again, all due to the robust market in the first four months. The other thing is, we have seen the average sale price start to increase. I’m not sure that the average home is going up in value, but I think that there are fewer lower price range homes being sold.

What’s on the horizon? With interest rates at historical lows I think our market is going to be okay. Hardly a day goes by that we don’t read about an employer moving to Indiana and hiring more people. Part of the dilemma, that caused the economic slow down in the last four years, was caused by the consumers not spending money and buying durable goods. With durable goods not being produced, employers laid off employees and therefore increased the unemployment rate. As we move forward, I think we are seeing consumer confidence come back and employers hiring people again. If our unemployment numbers go down, I think that you will see our market correspondingly increase.

With all of that said, the most important thing is for all of us to keep focused. As we enter these last six months of the year, continue to do the things that we’ve done for the last four years. (Staying in touch with our clients, holding a lot of open houses and providing the superior service that each of you are known for.)

As always, if you should have any questions about any of the statistics in the market, please don’t hesitate to call me or your managers. We are more than willing to help. Here’s wishing you a great finish to 2010.

June pended homes down 30 percent in Central Indiana

Eight of nine counties see increase in housing prices

INDIANAPOLIS – While overall pended home sales remain lower on a month-to-month basis, year-to-date pended home sales numbers are still up 2.5 percent overall. More than 1,600 Central Indiana homes pended in June, with one Central Indiana county reporting an increase compared to the same time period last year, according to pended sales statistics compiled by F.C. Tucker Company.

Overall, June home sales declined 30.1 percent with 1,681 homes pended compared to 2,404 in June 2009. Shelby County posted the only increase with a 19.4 percent upsurge. Year to date, home sales have increased 2.5 percent.

Tucker’s just-released data also indicates that eight of nine Central Indiana counties saw increases in average year-to-date home prices. Homes in Shelby County sold for an average of $93,737, a 20 percent increase over the same period last year. Also, Marion and Madison counties showed 15.3 percent and 9.3 percent increases, respectively. For the first half of the year, the average home sales price for the nine-county region was $147,319, which is 9.6 percent more than January to June of last year.

“As the Central Indiana real estate market continues to stabilize, we are encouraged to see home prices generally climbing, while still remaining affordable” said Jim Litten, president of F.C. Tucker Company. “Homes have been selling quicker than this time last year as well, down an average of 11 days.”

As homeowners readied their homes for the traditional summer home buying season, available homes for sale in the nine-county region rose 4.6 percent in June 2010 with 16,921 homes on the market, 737 more homes than in June 2009. Five counties experienced above average inventory declines. Shelby County experienced the greatest decrease in inventory at -2.8 percent, followed by Madison County at -0.7 percent.

“As interest rates remain historically low, we hope that consumer confidence will continue to grow,” said Litten.

On July 2, 2010, President Obama signed into law the “Homebuyers Assistance and Improvement Act of 2010,” which extends the date by which purchasers must have closed on a home to be eligible for the homebuyer tax credit. This affects up to 180,000 home buyers nationally who have ratified contracts in place as of April 30, 2010, but could not close before June 30.