ELKHART — It’s a seller’s market for housing in Elkhart County.
“But then the sellers have to find someplace to live,” said Realtor Lori Snyder.
Real estate agents are saying they wish they had more homes to sell. People looking to upgrade wish they had more options. Builders, some still scarred by the Great Recession, wish that material costs were lower.
“It’s a crisis, that’s for sure,” said Julie Alert, association executive for the Elkhart County Board of Realtors. “It’s unfortunate because you have buyers and you have no inventory.”
The numbers Alert provides help tell the story:
• Thursday afternoon, there were 394 homes on the MLS listing. Two years ago, it was 750. The usual number ranges from 800 to 1,000.
• The most median price for sales in the first two months of 2017 was $131,200. A year ago, the median price for a home in Elkhart County was $103,000. In 2011, it was $73,250.
• The average time on the market for a house is 50 days. Alert said she’s never seen it that low. A year ago it was 118 days and the average for the entire year was 78. In 2007, just prior to the recession, it was 86.
Snyder, who manages about 30 real estate agents in the Elkhart and Warsaw offices of Berkshire Hathaway, echoed Alert.