INDIANA HOMEBUYERS SHOW RESILIENCY DESPITE STALLED INVENTORY

Prices Are Up; Sales Slowing as Smaller Pool of Listings Becomes the Norm

(INDIANAPOLIS, IN) — Pending and closed sales backed down in April as the pool of homes for sale shrank further compared to a year ago, as found in the Indiana Real Estate Markets Report today released by the state’s Realtors®.

Statewide year-over-year comparisons (April 2017 vs. April 2016) show:

• Number of new listings decreased 8.4 percent to 10,454 • Closed home sales decreased 1.3 percent to 7,388 • Pending home sales decreased 0.9 percent to 8,353 • Median sales price of homes increased 5.9 percent to $144,000 • Average sales price of homes increased 5.2 percent to $169,427 • Percentage of original list price received increased 0.9 percent to 96.1 percent • Inventory of homes for sale decreased 16.2 percent to 27,751 units • Months supply of homes for sale decreased 20.8 percent to 3.8 months

“Home shoppers are showing resiliency despite challenging conditions, but inventory is not matching up with demand,” said 2017 Indiana Association of Realtors® President Cheryl Stuckwish of Vallonia. “Smart buyers should get pre-approved and forget about submitting lowball offers. Homes are moving too quickly to take a chance on losing out to a competing buyer.”

Last week in Washington, D.C. the National Association of Realtors® Chief Economist Lawrence Yun discussed the challenges of low inventory at the Realtors® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo. Yun explained the housing shortages are largely from lack of the “4 L’s”: lots, labor, lending, and lumber.

The Indiana Real Estate Markets Report obtains data from 11 of the state’s 12 Multiple Listing Services (MLSs), including the Broker Listing Cooperative® (BLC®) in central Indiana. To date, the report represents 98 percent of the housing market statewide and 91 of 92 Indiana counties.

April Market Report for La Porte County: CLICK HERE

Source: Indiana Association of REALTORS Market Reports