Community

Inventory getting tighter….

MIBOR just released sales figures for the month of April, and one thing is for certain— the inventory of homes for sale is tightening. While new listings were up 6% over last April, that wasn’t enough to keep pace with surging sales (up 13% over April 2014). That has pushed the median sales price up 9% from a year ago, which ought to make potential sellers happy and encourage some of them to start advertising their homes for sale.

Inventory is down 3% from last April and 6% from April of two years ago. And it’s even tighter in Hamilton County where sales are on fire— up 30% over last April.

Properties in pristine condition are commanding lots of attention. Some of these properties are bringing multiple offers the very first weekend they hit the market. That should send a message to buyers and sellers alike. If you’re wanting to buy, come prepared (as in make sure you’ve been pre-qualified for financing and be ready psychologically to pull the trigger when you find THE house you’re lookin’ for). Sellers will want to have their houses in tip-top shape when they plant a For Sale sign in the front yard. And those thinking about selling may want to do more than think about it! The market is hot right now- be there!

First Quarter

The Metropolitan Board of Realtors just released numbers for the month of March and Quarter 1. As is customary, new listings have been coming onto the market as warmer weather stirs. While there were about 2800 new listings that came on board during both January and February, March saw nearly 4000 new for sale signs put in front yards across Central Indiana. Meanwhile, a good number of listings were taken off the market, thus resulting in no real inventory gain from January to March. It’s possible that some of those pulled from the market are merely taking a breather, and will reappear to plump up the inventory level just in time for the summer selling season. Future home buyers would certainly like for that to happen.

Sales have been increasing month by month this year, and are up 14% from the same time a year ago. Whether this momentum can be maintained or not- well, the proof will be in the pudding.

The median sales price (where half of all sales are either above or below) sits smack on $140,000 (up about 4% from a year ago). That’s generally good news for sellers.

Megan’s Law

Earlier today a prospective buyer asked me about sex offenders in the neighborhood. Now, some neighborhood information is obvious- all you have to do is open you eyes. Other stuff, is not so easy to determine. However, the web does provide a wealth of available information that can easily be tapped to discover all kinds of info about any given neighborhood or area.

“Megan’s Law” provides for a public database of the last known whereabouts of sex offenders. The law requires convicted sex offenders to register their residency with local law enforcement officials. This information is then available to the general public. While this information does not get updated as would be most desirable, it nevertheless provides the best available information available about who your new neighbors might or might not be. If this is something that concerns you, it might make good sense to check out the local listing.