Area homes sales down for 6th straight month

Home-sale agreements in the nine-county central Indiana region plunged 40.7 percent in October compared to the same month a year ago, according to a report released Thursday morning by F.C. Tucker Co.

Pending home sales dropped last month to 1,301, down from 2,195 in October 2009, the Indianapolis-based real estate company said.

The decline marked the sixth straight month that year-over-year home sales have slumped in central Indiana following three straight months of improving sales activity spurred by generous federal tax credits.

Pending sales were down 23 percent in September, 23 percent in August, 27 percent in July, 30 percent in June and 32 percent in May.

Pending home sales account for sales agreements, not sales that have closed.

Year-to-date, sales agreements are off 9.7 percent from the same period in 2009, the report said.

In Marion County, October sales agreements fell 45.8 percent compared with the previous year, from 1,062 to 576.

Pending sales dropped 31.5 percent in Hamilton County, from 394 to 270, and 39.6 percent in Hendricks County, from 182 to 110. No area counties saw an increase in sales.

One bright spot in the residential market has been average sale prices, which have ticked up steadily this year. Through October, the average sales price of a home sold in central Indiana has been $150,282, up 8.6 percent from the same period a year ago, the report said.