Local housing market slowing from record pace
Oct. 25—ANDERSON — The local housing market showed signs of cooling in September, but that may not necessarily portend bad news for the overall economy, experts say.
For September 2021, pending sales, closed sales, new listings and median sales price in Madison County all declined compared with August, according to new data published by the Metro Indianapolis Board of Realtors.
While the signs of a slowdown are there, some local Realtors believe a market correction is both inevitable and overdue.
"It's definitely not a bad thing for the real estate market, and the best news is that it's actually a good thing for Madison County," said Steve Thompson, who owns F.C. Tucker/Thompson Realtors in downtown Anderson. "Our numbers were so far behind, we saw a huge performance increase compared to the other surrounding counties in our market, and we were long overdue for that."
Additional context, Thompson said, can be gleaned from comparing year-over-year data from the broader Central Indiana market. Across the region, median sales price rose 12.9% in September compared with September 2020, and 0.4% compared with August 2021.
Year-to-year in the region, pending sales increased 1.1%. New listings decreased 7.6% in year-over-year comparison, and 8.2% compared with August 2021. Closed sales decreased 2.4% compared with last year and 5.7% compared with August.
Going forward, many economists expect consumer spending to shift from goods to services, which some believe will continue to slow interest in housing.
"With all the conversations and the indicators of stagflation coming through, we totally expect to see our economy make some kind of correction within the next couple quarters," Thompson said. "But it's not necessarily a bad thing.
"I'm confident that Madison County's numbers, even if we do have a market correction, will stay stable, and our housing prices look like they're going to be stable as well."
Follow Andy Knight on Twitter @Andrew_J_Knight, or call 765-640-4809.
