Central Indiana home sales continue slide in January 2009

The IBJ

Central Indiana home sales plunged nearly 16 percent last month, compared with a year earlier, according to a report released yesterday by Landrigan & Co., an Indianapolis residential real estate firm.

Landrigan said January sales in 13 area counties, including Marion, totaled 1,177, down from 1,395 in the same month last year. The average sales price fell as well, dropping 20 percent, to $116,890.

But the report offered a glimmer of hope that the slumbering residential market may be starting to rebound. The backlog of homes listed for sale dipped to 16,490, a decline of more than 13 percent from a year earlier.

"Anecdotal reports from north side agents indicate a very strong surge of interest from buyers," the report said. "Our own office has had a significant rise in showings for listings below $200,000."
 
The statistics from Landrigan are consistent with recent reports from the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors. It said area home sales slid 18 percent in the fourth quarter compared with the same time the previous year.

MIBOR on Wednesday will host its eighth annual Central Indiana Housing Summit from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Indiana Convention Center's Sagamore Ballroom.

More than 500 real estate agents, industry experts and community leaders are expected to attend the summit, which will explore the impact green technology, mass transit and government consolidation could have on the region.

Speakers will include experts from the IUPUI Center for Urban Policy and the Environment, the Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority, the Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform and MySmartGov.org.