The weather and the housing market heated up last month as Northwest Indiana transitioned into spring. The latest data for sales of single-family existing homes showed an increase in home sales and prices for the third month in a row in both Lake and Porter Counties, reports Jeanne Sommer, broker/owner of CENTURY 21 Alliance Group in Valparaiso, IN.
The increase led to a busy month for the downtown Valparaiso-based agency. “Our office had our highest monthly sales of any month in the last five years,” Sommer said.
Because buyers got an early start this year, Sommer advises not to wait until the weather warms up to list your home on the market. “We are still experiencing a shortage of listings in every price range,” Sommer explained. “Some price ranges are down to only two months of inventory.”
According to the latest real estate data, Lake County saw a 24% increase in sales, with more home selling for a higher price in less time, when compared to the same months in 2012. Porter County also experienced an increase in home sales, up 18% from last year, with more homes selling for a higher price.
The number of single-family existing home sales increased from 846 in Lake County in 2012 to 1,055 in the first three months of 2013 and from 320 in Porter County to 380. Meanwhile, the average sales price on single-family homes rose from $115,764 to $124,654 in Lake County and from $171,072 to $184,320 in Porter County.
In addition, the number of days a property was listed on the market was down from 146 last year in Lake County to 127 this year, while Porter County saw an increase from 153 to 171. All data was provided by the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors and calculated from January 1 to March 31 in 2013 and compared to the same time period in 2012.