Indiana Real Estate

Real estate experts are worried that the Indiana real estate market may be a ways away due to slow real estate activity, despite low mortgage rates and the federal tax credit incentives. Although previous months have posted improvements, real estate experts don’t expect the improvements to continue and believe that winter home sales will stall. Indianapolis is ranked as one of the worst faring cities in the nation in terms of real estate activity. Realtors can only hope that the coming months will bring only small declines if improvements cannot be made.

According to the Indy Star, November has posted promising signs of an improving real estate market in Indiana. However, real estate experts don’t believe the recent success is enough to prevent the expected halt in the Indiana real estate market during the winter months despite the incentives offered to prospective homebuyers through low interest rates and the federal first-time homebuyer tax credit. The Indiana Association of Realtors posted that in the month of November, just over 5,000 homes were sold in Indiana, a 36.5 percent increase from November of 2008. The increase in sales in Indianapolis was 27.79 percent between November of 2008 and November of 2009, ranking the city as the seventh-worst improvement among large U.S. cities. Real estate experts have also noted that there are people interested in buying, but the strict lending standards enforced by local banks has made it extremely hard for prospective buyers to obtain loans. Job security and high unemployment rates have also played major roles in slowing the Indiana real estate market. Although the real estate market is expected to worsen over the next few months, real estate experts have noted that the declines in sales and median prices may be small due to signs that the Indiana real estate market has bottomed out.

The Indianapolis Business Journal has also reported on some of the real estate successes seen in 2009, offering hope that recovery may be near. Some of the top stories include recent growth and an increase in real estate activity around the Indianapolis International Airport, support for restoration of historic buildings in downtown Indianapolis, and the success of some local businesses. The industrial real estate in Indianapolis was also reported to be quite successful, preserving a stable vacancy rate and only slight decline in rent rates, despite the struggles in most other parts of the economy. Although there have been many promising stories suggesting real estate improvements, real estate experts have also noted that another wave of foreclosures is expected to hit the local real estate market in early 2010.