Northwest Indiana single-family home sales in June were on a par with the robust sales of last summer, with overall sales dropping a slight 3.1 percent as compared to June 2013, according to the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors.
The June drop was the smallest of this year on a year-over-year basis, marking a reversal of the steeper drops seen at the beginning of the year.
"The second half of the year will be totally telling as far as home sales, because the last couple of years we had some pretty strong finishes," said Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors CEO Peter Novak.
Sales in the first six months of this year were down about 6 percent as compared to the first six month's of last, Novak said. That will make it hard to match last year's strong sales, which hit their highest level since the onset of the housing crisis in 2007.
Nationally, single-family home sales rose 2.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.43 million in June from 4.32 million in May, but remain 2.9 percent below the 4.56 million pace a year ago. The median existing single-family home price was $224,300 in June, up 4.5 percent from June 2013.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said housing fundamentals are moving in the right direction.
“Inventories are at their highest level in over a year and price gains have slowed to much more welcoming levels in many parts of the country. This bodes well for rising home sales in the upcoming months as consumers are provided with more choices,” he said. “On the contrary, new home construction needs to rise by at least 50 percent for a complete return to a balanced market because supply shortages – particularly in the West – are still putting upward pressure on prices.”
Yun also noted that stagnant wage growth is holding back what should be a stronger pace of sales.
Single-family home sales in Lake County increased 3.6 percent in June as compared to June 2013, according to the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors. The median selling price of a home was $139,000, up a strong 7.8 percent as compared to one year ago.
In Porter county, single-family home sales in June were down 4.9 percent as compared to June 2013 and the median selling price was down 2.8 percent.
The Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors reports home sales in Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton and Jasper counties. The association will also soon be reporting sales in Pulaski and Starke counties, following its merger with the Starke-Pulaski Board of Realtors.