November home sales slower than last year,

F.C. Tucker optimistic about local real estate market in 2008

INDIANAPOLIS– Central Indiana’s unpredictable weather and Thanksgiving preparations put another damper on home buying in central Indiana, continuing the 2007 real estate market’s balancing of inventory and consumer demand. November pended home sales were off 15 percent from November 2006. Year-to-date sales statistics show a more promising local picture, with 26,801 homes sold so far in 2007, compared to 29,156 homes sold at this same time in 2006, an 8.1 percent overall decrease.

H. James Litten, president of F.C. Tucker Company’s Residential Real Estate Services Division, said, “With almost 27,000 homes sold in central Indiana so far this year, we remain encouraged by the market’s resilience in the face of increased inventory levels and consumer concerns about housing. Central Indiana is experiencing less of a hit than other major cities across the country, and Indianapolis real estate sales are continuing to balance the number of homes on the market with ongoing consumer demand for those homes.”

Sales in Hancock County experienced the most improvement in November with a 10 percent jump in sales over November 2006 and a 1.3 percent increase year-to-date. November pended home sales in Boone County were off slightly from the previous year by 1.6 percent. Year-to-date sales for Boone County are off less than one percent from 2006 YTD. By comparison, Hendricks County posted the most significant drop in pended home sales in November with a 21.6 percent decrease over November 2006.

“Sales this year are the fifth best on record,” Litten said. “Central Indiana’s continued market affordability, one of the best in the country; less new home building than we have experienced in the recent past; and declining mortgage rates promise to strengthen the market in coming months.”

Overall inventory of homes on the market increased 4.4 percent. On a county-by-county level, Madison County’s inventory decreased 11.6 percent in November from 1,279 homes in November 2006 to 1,131 homes in November 2007, and Johnson County was just shy of balancing out at plus .7 percent ahead of last year’s available inventory. Marion County’s inventory rose 7.4 percent.

Editor’s Note: All statistics were compiled by F.C. Tucker Company from a report drawn from Propertylinx II statistics on Dec. 10, 2007.

Pended single-family and condominium home sales 

Active listings, November 2006 vs. November 2007