The statistics show that it’s a great market for both buyers and sellers.

It’s been a real rollercoaster of a year for real estate following a crazy couple of years. I’m here with all the latest numbers to provide you with your Southwest Indiana market update. There’s good news for both buyers and sellers.

For buyers, the good news is that home sales are starting to slow down. During the last four months, we’ve seen a drop of 11% in home sales when compared to the same four months last year. This means that demand is cooling, leaving you with fewer multiple-offer situations and fewer homes going substantially over asking price.

What is causing this slowdown in demand? The Federal Reserve has been raising rates to try and get inflation under control. While this will certainly affect your monthly payment, the good news is that buying a home locks in your monthly payment. If you choose to rent instead, that amount can go up every single month. By making the payments on a mortgage, a portion of that goes towards the equity as well. That can be a significant long-term benefit.

"There’s good news for both buyers and sellers."

The other great news for buyers is that inventory is growing. At the end of September, there were 676 homes for sale in the eight counties that we cover. This is the largest inventory that we’ve seen since June 2020. In addition, the average number of days on market was 22 in October, compared to 10 in June. This means buyers have more time to look at homes, and won’t have to make rushed decisions.

There’s plenty of good news for home sellers as well. While we’ve reached a high in the number of homes for sale since June 2020, 676 homes is still an extremely low number of homes for sale. If we look at September 2019, there were over 1,300 homes for sale. With fewer homes for sale, we’re still able to get multiple offers in some situations, but it’s essential to price your home correctly. Unlike in the market of 2020 and 2021, you can no longer price your home high and still expect it to eventually sell. You have to stay competitive in this cooling market.

The changing market makes this a very strange time. We’re shifting in the direction of buyers, but considering the historical data, we’re still in a strong seller’s market. If you’ve been looking for a home for the last two years, it’s a great time to buy, but it’s still a very good time to sell. This will, of course, vary based on your location and price point, so if you have any questions about your specific situation, don’t hesitate to reach out to us by phone or email. I hope you have a great day!