The existing housing market in Lake and Porter counties took a slight dip year-over-year in March in both sale numbers and median prices, but prices are already beginning to shoot back up in April.
“April will show not much, if any, increase in the number of units sold, but a sizable increase in the selling price,” said Peter Novak Jr., CEO of Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors.
He once again attributed the drop in sales to the low number of houses for sale.
“We normally have 10 times the number of houses for sale than we do now,” Novak said.
He said there were 600 homes for sale where normally there would be 6,000.
According to the monthly housing report issued by GNIAR, the median sales price for an existing house in Lake County dropped 2.2%, from $190,404 in March 2020 to $186,250 this March. In Porter County, the median sales price slipped 1.3%, from $230,000 to $227,000.
Outlying counties helped boost the median sales price of all seven counties in GNIAR’s region combined to an 11.8% jump, from $177,900 to $198,900.
Besides Lake and Porter, GNIAR also covers LaPorte, Newton, Jasper, Starke and Pulaski counties. Existing houses include single-family, condominium, town houses and duplexes.
Comparing the number of units sold year-over-year, GNIAR reported a 5.7% drop in Lake County, from 513 in March 2020 to 484 this March.
There were 3.3% fewer units sold in Porter County, from 180 to 174, but the seven counties combined saw a 3.7% hike in units sold, from 833 to 864.
Despite the March dip, Novak said the Region is still seeing a sizable increase in both sales and prices so far this year compared to last year.
“How long will this last? I don’t know, but it can’t last forever,” he said.
The median sales price of homes sold in Lake County through the end of March this year rose 9.8% over the same period last year, from $168,000 to $184,500. In Porter County the price dropped slightly, 1.1%, when comparing the two time periods, from $217,500 to $215,000.
The seven counties combined had a 7.5% hike in median price, from $174,000 to $187,000.
The number of units sold in that time period increased by 5.2% in both Lake and Porter counties year-over-year, going from 1,218 to 1,281 in Lake County and from 440 to 463 in Porter County.
The seven counties combined had an 8.5% jump in units sold in the first three months, from 2,051 to 2,225, according to the GNIAR summary.
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