Central Indiana Housing Sales Still Strong While Inventory Lags
by
In the first quarter of 2016, Central Indiana’s housing market continued to improve, with a healthy 6.6% increase in the number of homes closed, with more than 6,100 units sold. A healthy local economy, reasonably high consumer confidence levels and continued historically low interest rates likely contribute to these results.
However, inventory continues to be the market’s challenge. Homes on the market – those available for sale – declined another 6.1% during the quarter to decade-low levels. It’s good for today’s sellers as they might expect to receive offers faster and for more money. The area’s average sale price increased 4.3% compared to the first quarter of 2015, to $176,364. That may be good news for sellers, but lower inventory makes it more challenging for buyers, who have fewer homes to choose from and may be compelled to pay more for the home they want.
For pended sales, Boone, Hancock, Hendricks, Marion and Montgomery Counties all saw healthy increases above 10%. Only two counties – Putnam and Shelby – experienced slight decreases in pended sales for the quarter. Within Marion County, three townships had very strong increases of 25% or more. Those were Center, Warren and Wayne.
The challenging inventory levels are apparent in that only three counties (Boone, Hamilton and Shelby) have higher inventory levels compared to last year’s first quarter, led by Boone at +5.5%. Homes available for sale in five of the eleven counties decreased by double-digits. Hancock County dropped 18.3%, followed by Montgomery, Putnam, Johnson and Madison Counties.
Detailed numbers, broken down by county and township, can be found here. Central Indiana’s housing market remains healthy, healthier than expected, and we look forward to increasing inventory, which will reduce stress on buyers. An extended period of strong housing sales indicates growing consumer confidence on a solid foundation of a recovering U.S. economy.
