Fayette County might have had its struggles in different areas of the economy in 2015, such as unemployment, but there was one area the county saw marked improvement in.
More people are buying homes in Fayette County, at higher prices.
The Indiana Association of Realtors released its statewide Real Estate Markets Report Tuesday, which shows that both home sales and the prices of those sold homes increased statewide in 2015, including Fayette County.
Fayette County saw its number of closed home sales increase by 4 percent between 2014 and 2015, as 155 closed home sales took place in 2015, compared to 149 for 2014.
The median sales price of those closed homes sales also jumped up, increasing 6.8 percent. The median sales price for 2015 in Fayette County was $65,450, compared to $61,272 in 2014.
Both of those increases were in the ballpark of the state average for 2015, which saw closed home sales increase by 6.9 percent and the median sales price climb 5.6 percent.
In addition, of those closed home sales in Fayette County, the percentage of the original list price being received at sale also increased slightly, rising from 85.6 percent in 2014 to 87.7 percent for 2015 — meaning more sellers are receiving what they list their home for sale at.
Speaking of home sales, however, another trend Fayette County experienced in 2015 was less homeowners are putting their homes up for sale.
There were only 240 new listings in Fayette County for 2015, compared to 269 in 2014 — a 10.8 percent drop.
Real estate experts, such as Nancy Smith of Shelbyville, who serves as president of the Indiana Association of Realtors, believe the 2015 trend of home sales in Fayette County and across the state will likely continue this year.
"Many housing markets across the state are past the slump of the Great Recession," Smith said. "High-energy activity — from buyers and sellers — is keeping up, and many indicators suggest the momentum seen last year should bridge over in 2016, if the job market and wages remain strong, even healthier market conditions are yet to come."
The trend of improving home sales wasn't limited to Fayette County, as several neighboring counties experienced growth as well.
Franklin County, for instance, saw a 13.2 percent increase in the amount of closed home sales in 2015 compared to 2014, along with an increase in the percentage of the original list price being received at sale.
One not-so-bright spot for Franklin County, however, was the median sales price of a home in 2015 dropping 7.2 percent compared to 2014.
Union County found itself in a similar situation as Franklin County concerning 2015 home sales, as it had an 8.3 percent increase in the number of closed home sales, yet saw its median sales price fall 19.5 percent in comparison to 2014.
Rush County had a slight decrease in the number of closed home sales in 2015, falling 3.8 percent, yet saw a huge 114.4 percent increase in the median sales price of those homes in 2015, compared to 2014.
In Henry County, closed home sales for 2015 fell slightly as well, dropping 2.7 percent from 2014, while the median sales price for the same period grew slightly, by 2.7 percent.
Figures weren't available for Wayne County, per the IAR.