Derek R. Smith, Daily Reporter staff writer
Business was painful last year for custom-home builders like George Sherman, but Sherman, for one, has guarded optimism about this year's real estate market.
"We started seeing the slowdown in the spring of 2006, so we knew it (last year) was going to be difficult," Sherman said. "As 2007 progressed, the phone just stopped ringing."
Sherman wasn't the only one. Data shows building of new homes slowed considerably in the county last year.
Sales of existing homes, however, didn't follow suit. A total of 917 homes were sold in the county in 2007, compared to 920 in 2006, said Claire Belby, communications director for the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors.
Roy Wilson, of Century 21 Wilson & Associates, said that amounted to a "pretty decent" year in 2007.
"There were slow times and busy times, but at the end of the day, it was a good year," Wilson said.