Indianapolis area home sales down 14.7 percent in March 2008

Norm Heikens, The IBJ

nheikens@ibj.com

Pending house sales in the nine-county Indianapolis area plunged 14.7 percent in March from the same month last year, the brokerage F.C. Tucker Co. said today.

Sales accepted but not closed fell to 2,419 units from 2,836 a year earlier. Each county, including Madison, saw sales fall, with Hancock posting the biggest reversal: down 31.6 percent, to 78 units.

The average sale price slipped 2.8 percent, to $140,098.

Donna Kreps, executive vice president of Tucker's real estate services, said the decline in pending sales was larger than expected.

Yet, Kreps added that she sees inventories being drawn down closer in line with demand.

Tucker gathers the information from the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors.