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Sale prices of existing homes in central Indiana lifted in March compared to the same month last year as the supply of available homes plummeted a jaw-dropping 61.6%.
With the dramatic decrease in available listings, the median price for homes sold in the 16-county area in March rose 8.4%, to $226,500, compared with $208,865 in March 2020.
Further evidence that central Indiana is deep into a seller’s market: Home owners in March got 99.7% of their asking prices, up from 97.9% in March 2020, according to the latest data from the MIBOR Realtor Association.
Completed sales fell from 2,989 in March 2020 to 2,775 last month—a decrease of 7.2%. The drop broke an eight-month run of monthly sales increases.
The active inventory tumbled from 4,063 homes in March 2020 to just 1,562 homes last month—a drop of 61.6%. The average number of days that homes stayed on the market swooned 41%, from 39 days to 23.
New listings were down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis, from 3,717 in March 2020 to 3,351 last month.
Marion County
In Marion County—the most active market in central Indiana—closed sales in March rose 2.1%, to 1,173.
The median sales price in the county rose 7.4%, to $188,000. New listings shrank 6.8% from 1,448 in March 2020 to 1,349 last month. The inventory of available single-family homes plunged 49.2%, to 757.
Other area counties
In Hamilton County, sales dove 23%, to 463, in March. The median sales price rose 9%, to $339,000. The inventory of houses fell 74.4%, to 216.
In Hendricks County, sales dropped 24.7%, to 186, and the median sales price increased 18.6%, to $280,000.
In Johnson County, sales slid 5.6%, to 203, and the median sales price rose 17.2%, to $245,000.
Sales in Boone County fell 8.8% last month, to 103, while the median price of a home rose 3.4%, to $306,000.
Hancock County sales were down 5.9%, to 112, and the median price rose 18.8%, to $249,500.
Sales were up 26.4% in Madison County last month, to 153. The median sales price increased 1.1%, to $134,900.
Morgan County sales fell 19.1%, to 72, and the median sales price rose 7.9%, to $199,625.
Shelby County saw 48 closed home sales last month, up from 43 in March 2020. The median price rose 34%, to $204,950.
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And would realtors quit running commercials about selling houses quickly! Sign goes up, 15 offers in 2 days, most above asking price. Decide who the successful bid is.
Make you wonder what they are doing to justify the 6% commission.
Mark S. – could this be one of the few topics on which we agree?!?!? Yea!
I’ve always thought of RE agents as match makers not worth the 6%-7% fee. I know most of them keep only 1/4 of the fee, anther 1/4 goes to the owner of the selling agency, and the last half is split between the buyer’s agent and his/her agency.
But, I never buy the argument that our interest are aligned – “Oh, I make more money if we sell it at a high price, so our interests are aligned.” BS – for every $10,000 you convince me to reduce the price, I lose $9,300 and the commission goes down $700, only $175 of which is coming out of your agent’s pocket.
Let’s say your house is worth $325,000. Selling agent earns 1.75% or $5,688. If they convince you to list at $300,000 instead, they earn $5,250, just $438 less. I lose $23,250 if I’m dumb enough to believe you. And who is in a better position to know what the price should be – the agent, that’s what they do for a living.
Do you think they’d like to earn $5,250 in one week by low-balling the price, or work for 4-8 weeks with showings, etc, to earn that extra $438?
I say if you sell your house in 1-2 days in this market, you’ve been hoodwinked into listing your house too low. That’s self-evident.
Eric, so what is the catch with Kohler? How does he make money if he’s not charging sellers?
He charges a flat fee to list it on MLS most times and help with paperwork.
They are false experts. Over glorified car salespeople.
I guess the IBJ didn’t like my post. As Rhea said, Don Kohler only charges a fee to list and help with paperwork, $500 if I remember correctly. He told me he’s made enough money in the past and he’s doing this to help show what a scam the full-commission brokers are.
Eric, I think they may have considered it advertising for that agent.
You’re right, Rhea. The comment was deleted because it really wasn’t a comment. It was just an ad for the agency.
I understand why you deleted. However, I have no business connection to Mr. Kohler. I think his business model might be worthy of a news article by the premier business publication in central Indiana. Based on the comments, there seems to be desire (i.e. market demand) for something beyond 6%, take-it-or-leave-it, especially in this housing market.
I’m a real estate broker and own my own company. It looks great on paper that it’s easy being a broker right now, but it is not. It’s great that we are able to sell homes quickly…the downfall is there are no homes for sellers to find and buy after selling…so many, many are not selling right now. If my seller doesn’t have a place to go temporarily, it’s not worth the risk of them being “homeless” or even trying to sell. I would much rather it be back to a more reasonable inventory level where buyers can actually find a home to buy. I’ve had many sleepless nights the past year worrying about my sellers finding a home. We have put offers in 10-20% over list highly qualified buyers that still get beat out. Many have put offers in on 5-6 homes and lost out on all of them. So yes, easy to sell a home, but we have to seriously put many, many hours into it to find them another home..if we can even find them a home.