ANDERSON — The local real estate market is showing signs of stabilizing with more pending sales and a decrease in the number of homes that are for sale.

“Every housing market in the country has been tilting down and posting negative growth for the past five years,” said Ken Miller, president of the Anderson/Madison County Association of Realtors.

“I think everybody would feel better if they didn’t go down anymore,” he said.

Home values held in the first quarter of 2012, and pending sales were up more than 30 percent, which are “very good signs,” said Miller, a real estate agent with F.C. Tucker O.C. Clark.

The median price of a home in Madison County during the first quarter of 2011 was $61,500. During that same period this year, the median home price rose to $64,950, an increase of 5.3 percent.

In addition, during the first quarter of 2011, there were 849 homes for sale, Miller said, while in the first quarter of 2012, that number decreased 4.5 percent to 811, Miller said.

“The market is slowly trending up, both nationally and here in central Indiana,” said Jim Litten, president of F.C. Tucker Co. “We anticipate prices will continue to creep up as investors and first-time home buyers compete for bargain-priced homes.”

Higher than average unemployment has been a drag on the real estate industry in Madison County, but “all the signs look like we’re set up for some progress, some mild rebounding,” Miller said.

Miller said several factors are aiding that trend.

One is that banks are making more money available for home loans and loosening some of the restrictions that were put in place when the housing bubble burst.

Another factor is pent-up demand.

“I do think that people have waited a long time to make decisions,” but are moving into the market while mortgage interest rates are at historic lows, Miller said.

Meanwhile, real estate agents across the country are gearing up for the “nationwide open house weekend” on April 29.

“Home ownership matters to individuals, families, communities and our nation’s economy,” said Miller. “The housing market plays a vital role in the long-and short-term health of this countr y.”
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