The median sales price of existing homes in the Region continued to soar in July, but the number of houses sold slid year-over-year and compared to the previous month, which one housing expert said could be caused by a combination of reasons.
“We’re seeing more inventory. Theoretically, this should lead to more sales. Probably the buyer in some cases is saying enough is enough,” said Peter Novak Jr, CEO of Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors.
The association tracks monthly sales and prices of existing single family homes, condominiums, town houses and duplexes in its seven-county region — Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Jasper, Newton, Starke and Pulaski.
Novak said a national economist reported that higher-priced houses in the median to upper end of the market are selling on the national level, while there aren’t a lot of starter houses available.
But Novak also said that July’s dip in sales could be an anomaly. He said July 2020 was a particularly strong month for the Region’s housing market following a few slow months, which could account for the year-over-year slide. He said August numbers are slightly below those in August 2020 as of now, but he believes they will even out once the total numbers are calculated for the month.
“Normally we see a good number of properties close at the end of the month,” he said.
According to GNIAR’s report, year-over-year median sales prices jumped 18% in Lake County in July, from $194,900 to $230,000, and 11% in Porter County, from $236,900 to $263,000.
Prices for the seven counties covered by GNIAR combined also rose 11%, from $202,500 to $225,020, according to the association.
Meanwhile, the number of units sold in Lake County dropped 8.3% year-over-year, from 689 to 632, while Porter County saw a 14.6% decline, from 301 to 257. In the seven counties combined, sales were down 8.2% year-over-year, from 1,233 to 1,132.
Compared to June, the median sales price in Lake County was up 2.2% while sales dropped 14%. In Porter County, prices dropped .8% from June and sales were down 1.2%. The seven counties combined had no change in price but a 7.1% drop in sales.
Year-to-date, numbers remain healthy in both categories, particularly in Lake County, where the number of houses sold is up 8.8% and the median sales price has increased 15.3% over the same period last year.
In Porter County, the number of units sold to date is up 1.1% while sale prices increased 8.4%. In the seven counties combined, sales rose 8.5% and prices 11.7%.
Novak said the number of new listing increased almost 6% over last year.
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