More on June's Real Estate Market from NAR

As I shared a couple of days ago, news from the National Association of REALTORS®, says June was a great month for the housing market.  Home sales were over 5.5 millions units. And over 1 million new construction homes were started in June. Bloomington's June market had 245 units sold (includes houses and condos) with an average sales price of $219,324.

Market update from the National Association of REALTORS®

Existing home sales are up for the fourth consecutive month. Sales are up 3% from June 2015.

Lawrence Yun, NAR cheif economist said "Existing sales rose again last month as more traditional buyers and fewer investors were able to close on a home despite many competitive areas with unrelenting supply and demand imbalances. Sustained job growth as well as this year's descent in mortgage rates is undoubtedly driving the appetite of home purchases."

Happy New Year 2013! Let's see how the Bloomington market fared in 2012 compared to 2011

The Bloomington Indiana real estate market saw a healthy year of sales activity for 2012.  The average list price and sales price were above those of 2011. And the number of homes sold was up as well.

Here are the numbers for 2012 compared to 2011. These figures are for single family homes that sold in Bloomington.

2012 Sales Numbers

• Average Sales Price:  $197,465
• Average List Price:  $205,491
• List Price/Sales Price Ratio:  96%
• Average Days on the Market:  78
• Most Selling Price Range:  $140K-$159K

2011 Sales Numbers

• Average Sales Price:  $189,163
• Average List Price:  $197,426
• List Price/Sales Price Ratio:  96%
• Average Days on the Market:  89
• Most Selling Price Range:  $120K-$139K

Real Estate update for the week of February 13th - 19th

Blue skies and warming temperatures brought out the buyers in Bloomington. Sales and accepted offers were up this past week.  Here are the numbers:

• 114 new listings
• 51 listings had accepted offers/sales contracts
• 28 listings sold

The highest priced listing that received an accepted offer this week was a limestone house in Elm Heights that was listed at $379,900. This home has been on the market since last spring and needs significant updates, but the location is superb.

The high selling house of the week was located just outside Ellettsville and sold for $276,200.  This elegant two story home was listed for $290,000 and offered five bedrooms and four full baths. Listed since last July, this home started at $325,000.  The best values can often be found in the Ellettsville area, though they can take quite a long time to sell.

Have a great week!

Weekly update for the Bloomington Real Estate Market

While I was cruising through the Caribbean Sea this past week, a great deal of activity was taking place in Bloomington.  Here are the week's numbers:

• 102 new listings on the market
• 37 listings had price changes/reductions
• 43 listings received accepted offers
• 17 listings sold

The high price sale of the week was in Sutton Place on Derby Drive. This home was listed at $319,000 and sold for $300,000.  This home was on the market for 118 days before it had an accepted offer.

The highest priced listing of the week is in Gentry East. This home is priced at $449,900 and has four bedrooms, three full baths and just over 3700 finished square feet.  Plus there is an additional 700+ square feet of unfinished space in the basement.

It was a great week sailing in the Caribbean, but it's great to be back in Bloomington!

This past week's numbers for Bloomington

As we wrap up the month of January, the real estate market continues to be very active.  Mild weather, great interest rates and a good inventory of homes is creating a healthy environment. 

There were fewer new listings this week caused by the fact that some many home owners focused on getting their houses on the market bright and early this month.

Here are the week's numbers:

• 80 new listings (there were 29 properties withdrawn, so we're most likely looking at 51 +/- actual new listings
• 30 properties sold
• 31 properties received accepted offers
• 42 properties had price reductions.  (many of these will be home owners who are trying to make their house more appealing to buyers with the new year...a good idea.)

The high selling house of the week sold for $270,000. This house in Hyde Park was listed for $300,000.

Market update for the past week of Bloomington's real estate industry

It's been a busy week in Bloomington and the surrounding area. Even with icy conditions buyers were ready to make a move.  And more and more homes keep coming on the market which makes the shopping great fun!

Indiana as a whole is seeing appreciation again in many areas, which will bring even better conditions to Bloomington.

Here are this past week's numbers:

• 100 new listings
• 26 withdrawn listings (like last week, most of these homes will have been pulled out of the MLS system and re-entered with a new MLS number.  All MLS numbers in this market start with the year they are entered into the system, so all new listings will be eight digits starting with 2012.  And having a new MLS number will make the listing appear as if it is fresh on the market)
• 45 price changes (almost all, if not all, will be price reductions)
• 16 homes sold
• 61 homes went pending (this is a phenomenal number for this time of year!)

This time of year we are seeing a lot of local home owners making a move and trying to beat the rush of those buyers coming from out of the area with spring job offers.  The fact that people are making moves for more space or to a different neighborhood is a great sign of the confidence that Bloomingtonians have in our local economy.

Stay warm!

What happened this week in Bloomington's real esate market?

The real estate market here in Bloomington is in full bloom.  Here are some of the numbers for this week's activity in Bloomington and the surrounding areas:

1. 120 new listings!
2. 55 listings had price changes (reductions is a more accurate term)
3. 38 listings were withdrawn (most of these withdrawn listings will have been pulled from the MLS system by the listing agent and then re-entered so that the listing has the current year's MLS number...good marketing)
4. 23 properties sold
5. 29 properties went pending

All this is great news for Bloomington.  Since the norm in this market is for it to take about 30 days for a house sale to close from the time an offer is accepted, these numbers show that 30+/- contracts were written and accepted in this area during the middle of December which is a typically quiet month for real estate.


And new listings are coming on the market every day.  Keep checking back for more information or click the like button at on my facebook business page and follow all the trends in this market.

Three major metro areas in Indiana are marked as Improving Housing Markets.

The National Association of Home Builders has added 35 new metro areas to their list of 'Improving Housing Markets'. Three of those cities are in Indiana: Elkhart, Lafeyette and Indianapolis. The complete list of 76 cites are in only 31 states and the District of Columbia.

Though Bloomington is too small to be in the radar screen for this type of data, it is a great sign that our neighboring communities are starting to be noticed for healthy recovery.  The criteria that was used to compile the list: number of housing permits, home prices and employment monitored over six months.

2011 Market Report for Bloomington Indiana Sales 2011

Overall, the sales market in Bloomington continued to be strong during the 2011 calendar year. Here are some number based on sales of homes in Bloomington:

• Total homes sold: 897
• Average days on the market: 89
• Top selling priced bracket: $120,000 to $139,999
• Second top selling price bracket: $140,000 to $159,999
• The greatest number of homes sold in 30 days or less

How does that compare to 2010?  Here are the 2010 numbers:

• Total homes sold: 861
• Average days on the market: 74
• Top selling price bracket: Same as 2011
• The greatest number of homes sold in under 30 days as well.

Jumping back to the hot real estate market of 2007, here are the number:

• Total homes sold: 1240
• Average days on the market: 112
• Top selling price bracket: same as both 2010 and 2012
• The greatest number of homes sold in 31 to 60 days on the market.

Bloomington Home Sales for January 2011

And the numbers are in for Bloomington home sales for January. These figures are from the Bloomington Board of Realtors MLS system and are all residential sales in Bloomington for the month of January.

• A total of 60 homes/condos sold during the month
• Average sales price was $162,624
• Median days on the market was 88 (good)
• Homes sold for an average of 96% of their list price
• The most active price range for sales was $140,000 to $159,999
• The second most active price range was $160,000 to $179,000
• The third most active price range was $100,000 to $119,000

Here's how these numbers compare to January 2010:

• Total number of sales increased 11.11%
• Average sales price is down 6%
• Median days on the market is up 27%

More homes sold in 2011 but they had to work a little harder to get the job done. One has to keep in mind that the $8000 tax credit was in effect during January of 2010 which altered the standard real estate market.

RE/MAX is celebrating their 38th birthday with great successes!

The RE/MAX brand was established 38 years ago and forever changed the face of real estate by creating maximum commission based businesses for top producing professionals. RE/MAX Chairman Dave Liniger opened the first RE/MAX office in 1973.

This past year saw many great accomplishments:

1. Worldwide franchise sales were up nearly 30% in 2010
2. Two national surveys ranked top performing RE/MAX agents above all other national franchise agents in average transaction sides of sales.
3. Reader's Digest Canada named RE/MAX the Most Trusted Brand in Real Estate
4. RE/MAX became one of three companies to pass $100M in donations to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.
5. RE/MAX was named Top Ten Military Spouse-Friendly Employer by Military Spouse Magazine for the 4th year in a row.

And in the Bloomington area, RE/MAX accounted for the greatest amount of real estate sales with RE/MAX Acclaimed having the greatest sales volume.

The Master Plan for the Indiana University Bloomington Campus is now online

I just attended an event today with guest speaker Lynn Coyne of IU. The master plan for IU is truly phenomenal and very progressive. You can see the entire master plan, along with great historical information about IU at http://www.indiana.edu/~uao/. Simply click on master plan logo (shown above) and you will be directed to a vast amount of information about the future of the IU Bloomington campus

Check out what's happening in the Indy real estate market this weekend

This weekend is the Parade of Homes for Indianapolis. So if you have some time and are curious about our neighboring city's real estate market, this is a super opportunity to get inside a collection of new homes.

Homes are open today and tomorrow from 1:00 to 5:00. Check out more information at the Indianapolis Parade of Homes website: http://www.paradeofhomesindy.com/

The Beauty and Diversity of Bloomington's Architecture

I usually walk 45 minutes to an hour every day. I have three primary routes that I take and all of them include passing by beautiful houses that showcase the diversity of Bloomington's architecture. So today I brought my camera and took pictures of a few of my favorite houses on this route. Some are unique, some are classic and some are simply sweet. What can I say, I love houses!

From an article in Realtor Mag, the online magazine for Realtors from the National Association of Realtors, these ten cities are showing the greatest signs of continuing a declining trend in home values:

1. Atlantic City/Hammonton, NJ
2. Provo, UT
3. Portland/Vancouver, OR
4. Glen Falls, NY (home to Rachael Ray)
5. Bellingham, WA
6. Flagstaff, AZ
7. Charleston/Sommerfield, SC
8. Eugene/Springfield, OR
9. Salisbury, MD
10. Salt Lake City, UT

These figures were compiled by Forbes.

Fabian Seafood is heading back to Bloomington

You know spring has arrived when Fabian Seafood starts coming to Bloomington again. The next visit is this Tuesday, April 20th from 1:30 till 5:30 at the Bloomingfoods East location on Third Street.

This is fresh shrimp and shucked oysters straight from the Gulf. These folks drive up from Galveston Texas to share their bounty with us land-locked folks. It sells out fast, so if you are interested, get there early!

BTW, if you sign up for their email notices, you get a discount. Simply email them at SteveF@fabianseafood.com or visit their website at http://www.fabianseafood.com and sign up.

A Sample of Today's Interest Rates

An article in Sunday's New York Times said that interest rates were going nowhere but up. But they are still at historically low rates. Rates that we may not see again for decades. Here's a sample of today's rates from local lenders. Keep in mind that rates are subject to change and posted rates are based on credit scores, etc.

• Fifth Third Bank (www.53.com): 5.00%
• Premier Home Mortgage (www.premierhomemortage.com): 5.00%
• People's State Bank (www.peoples-bank.com): 5.25%
• United Commerce Bank (www.unitedcommercebank.com): 4.875%

Bloomington Farmers Market is Back!

Bloomington's famous farmers market is back for the season. This fantastic outdoor market runs April through November.

1. 
   Items currently available at the market include arugula, asparagus, cauliflower, goose eggs, rhubarb, and tamales (very good) and so much more. Here's a link to a complete list of what the farmers market has to offer so early in the season:

http://bloomington.in.gov/documents/viewDocument.php?document_id=1742

The market is located in downtown Bloomington on the b-line trail off of 7th street and is open every Saturday from 8 till 1. See you there!

Interest Rates Are Up!

Are the glory days of interest rates below 5% over? Well, for now they seem to be. After months of hovering at or just below the 5% mark, they are now consistently up. The average rate that is being forwarded to me today show rates at 5.25%.

According to the National Association of Realtors, the increase is due to worries about inflation as the economy improves. If you are considering buying or refinancing, this might be the right time to talk to a local lender and make that move!