By Carol Wersich, Evansville Courier & Press
As home sales nationwide appeared to slump deeper Tuesday, Dave Matthews, a veteran Evansville real estate appraisal consultant, remained optimistic, saying "Evansville keeps chugging right along without having too much of a problem."
He credited a fairly diversified economic base and a conservative market that is bubble-free.
Matthews, who owns David Matthews Associates, added: "The local housing market is good by historic standards."
Linda Jowers, president of the Evansville Area Association of Realtors, said Indiana ranks eighth in the nation for having the lowest drop-off rate in home sales.
Nationally, an industry group said pending U.S. home sales fell in February to the lowest reading since the National Association of Realtors' seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes began in 2001.
The industry group said the drop signaled the housing market distress was not yet over.
The index revealed pending sales of existing homes fell in February to 84.6 from January's upwardly revised reading of 86.2.
The index stood at 107.6 in February 2007.
A reading of 100 is equal to the average level of sales activity in 2001.
The previous lowest reading was last August's 85.8, recorded at the height of the credit crunch.
Jonathan Weaver, Vanderburgh County assessor, said the sale of homes in Vanderburgh by Realtors, brokers and private nonprofessionals dropped 11 percent last month from the previous year. He said 269 homes were sold this past February and 303 in February 2007.
Warrick County experienced a 39 percent drop in sales last month from a year earlier. The Warrick assessor's office reported 156 homes were sold last month and 257 in February 2007.
Don Lee, director of the area's Realtors Multilist network of homes, said "We're not hurting as badly as the rest of the nation.
"I have traveled to national Realtors' meetings and have found the Evansville area is by no means under pressure like other parts of the country. We're not nearly as hard hit."
Lee added: "We float in the middle when sales rocket up and we don't bottom out when they're down."
Matthews said: "It's currently a buyer's market, no doubt about it.
"You have a large selection of homes to buy at good interest rates."
Matthews said if you don't have to sell your house - or even if you do - it's a good time to shop for a house.
"The flowers starting to bloom is helping to bring people out... We're still doing a fair amount of appraisal work," Matthews said.
He sees no signs that the recession has hit Evansville yet, he said. "We're the last to go in an economic downturn."