In March 2024, the median sales price for a single-family home in central Indiana jumped 6.5% over last year to $293,000, a 4.5% increase from last month. In the MIBOR BLC® Listing Service area, 12 of 16 counties saw a year-over-year increase in median sales price, including Hendricks, Johnson, and Marion.
“The spring selling season is beginning to warm up as we see both sellers and buyers make their way back to the market,” says MIBOR CEO Shelley Specchio. “Inventory remains tight, but new listings grew meaningfully from last month, and pending sales were nearly 7% higher than last year.”
Closed sales were down 10% year-over-year while pending sales increased 6.9%, and up 29.7% from last month. Similar to median price, pending sales saw a year-over-year increase in 9 of the 16 counties in the service area, including Hendricks, Hancock, and Marion. The typical listing received 98.2% of the asking price, relatively unchanged from 98.1% last March.
New listings declined 1.8%, year-over-year, but grew 20.2% from February. The median days on market was just 10 days relatively unchanged from last year, and down from 15 the previous month. Active inventory at the end of the month was 3,215, an increase of 12.5% from last year but relatively flat from the previous month, reflecting a 1.3-month supply.
Nationally, February existing home sales declined 3.3% year-over-year, but climbed 9.5% from January according to the National Association of REALTORS®. The median sales price was $384,500, up 5.7% over last year, and unsold inventory represented 2.9 months of supply. Pending sales grew 1.6% from January.
“Consumer prices reaccelerated to 3.5%. This is higher than the 2% target inflation, which raises eyebrows regarding the Federal Reserve’s delay in cutting interest rates. The bond market immediately responded with high yields to compensate for the loss in purchasing power,” says NAR Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun. “One strange data point is rent, which the official data shows at 5.8%. The unofficial data from the apartment industry indicates falling rent due to over-construction. If rent data calms, then overall inflation will automatically be lower. It is, therefore, possible to get to the 2% inflation target by year’s end, even with bumps and delays.”
Housing data released by the MIBOR BLC® comparing March 2023 to March 2024 shows:
- An increase in Median Sales Price of 6.5% to $293,000
- A decrease in Closed Sales of 10% to 2,415
- New Listings decrease 1.8% to 2,978