NW Indiana home sales stay strong as interest rates rise

Northwestern Indiana’s home sales are robust, even as interest rates rise and economic headwinds build.

Sales rose more than 4 percent in May from the same month a year ago, bucking a national trend, and are up 6 percent so far this year, the Post-Tribune reported, citing the Greater Northwestern Indiana Association of Realtors. Preliminary numbers for June are also strong.

“We’re definitely different from what we are seeing nationally in terms of sales declining for four straight months,” the group’s Pete Novak told the outlet. “We are a little ways away from seeing prices decline. We still have a pretty major inventory issue.”

Affordability will probably be the biggest challenge for home sales moving forward as demand stays strong, he said.

“It’s no surprise the median selling price continues to climb dramatically,” Novak said. “Really, the difference in our market locally versus the national numbers is we are still seeing pretty substantial price increases,” Novak said.

While the supply of homes in Indiana is increasing, it’s still limited. Some 1,000 homes were available for sale in May, compared with about 700 a year earlier.

Despite signs that the market could slow, there are few signs of a pending crash, according to the group’s Jessica Kish, president of the GNIAR board of directors, who said she doesn’t expect Indiana’s housing market to crash any time soon.

“What we will see is a little bit of a cooling off,” Kish told the outlet. “We are seeing things sit just a little bit longer. We are seeing a few price adjustments happening. That is something we have seen for quite some time.”

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