According to data calculated by Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors, the Northwest Indiana real estate market remained strong throughout the first half of 2013, reports Jeanne Sommer, broker/owner of CENTURY 21 Alliance Group in Valparaiso, IN.
The Valparaiso-based real estate agency also had a productive six months with a significant number of closings. “Our office closed nearly a property a day during the first half of 2013,” Sommer said.
Both Lake and Porter Counties saw a continued increase in residential sales, up 26% for Lake and 23% for Porter over last year, and the market was healthy in both counties. The health of a market can be judged by the level of housing inventory, she explained.
“A healthy market has six to eight months of housing inventory,” Sommer said. “The market in Lake and Porter Counties was robust, with less than five months in Porter and less than six in Lake. We actually still need more listings for our buyers. Now is the time to sell.”
Both Lake and Porter County had more home sold in fewer days at a higher average price during the first half of 2013 when compared to the first half of 2012. The number of single-family existing home sales was up from 2,015 in Lake County in 2012 to 2,537 in 2013 and from 813 in Porter County to 996.
Meanwhile, the average sales price on single-family homes rose from $131,536 to $132,701 in Lake County and from $180,918 to $186,422 in Porter County. In addition, the number of days a property was listed on the market was down from 141 last year in Lake County to 124 this year, while Porter County saw a decrease from 149 to 140. All data was provided by the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors and calculated from January 1 to June 30 in 2013 and compared to the same time period in 2012.