BY SUSAN ERLER, Times of Northwest Indiana
serler@nwitimes.com
Housing sales slipped in Northwest Indiana in January, falling by nearly 30 percent from a year earlier.
Buyers came away with a total 332 new and existing single-family homes in Lake and Porter counties, down from 475 in January 2007, according to information from the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors.
Nationwide, January sales of existing homes fell 23 percent from last year, with many potential buyers remaining on the sideline, according to Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.
Subprime loans and other risky mortgage products "have virtually disappeared from the marketplace," Yun said.
"As the increased limits for FHA and conventional loans are implemented, more buyers will have access to safer FHA loans and lower interest rate loans in high-cost areas," Yun said. An increase in home sales later in the year could result, he said.
Area Realtor Buford Eddy said he expects sales to rebound locally in spring.
With interest rates at near historic lows, "I'm hoping the market will kind of come to its senses," Eddy said.
Housing prices in the region have remained stable, insulated from the dramatic highs and lows seen in other parts of the country, Eddy said.
Some of the huge price increases in other parts of the country, particularly the East and West coasts, were the result of speculation buying, Eddy said.
"Speculators are taking a chance," he said. "They drive the prices up and they drive them down."
In the local real estate market, "99 percent of the people we sell homes to are users," he said. "There's a prime difference."
The median selling price of a home in Northwest Indiana hit $119,800 in January, down 2 percent from last year.
The Lake County median selling price of $108,000 was a nearly 14 percent increase from January 2007. In Porter County, the median selling price fell to $177,900, from $185,785 a year earlier.
Nationwide, the median price of a home sold in January slid to $201,100, a drop of 4.6 percent from a year ago.
Sales were weak in all parts of the country except the Midwest, where sales posted an increase of 3.4 percent, according to the National Association of Realtors.