Single-family home sales in Northwest Indiana continued their robust 2015 with gains in July of 7 percent over the same month last year, while upward price pressure continued with an increase of 2.4 percent year-over-year, according to figures from the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors.
For the first seven months of the year, overall sales are up 7.8 percent and prices 6 percent in Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Jasper, Newton, Starke and Pulaski counties.
A total of 1,081 homes were sold in the area in July, as compared to 1,011 in July 2014. For January through July, the sales numbers are 5,607 and 5,203, respectively.
Increasing demand, while homebuilding is still recovering from the slump, has pressured prices this year. The median selling price in the seven counties in July was $148,500; last July it was $145,000.
In general, "it's more of the same," GNIAR president and CEO Peter Novak said of the July numbers.
The general upward trend in prices is noteworthy, Novak said. "That ranks as our highest probably since the downturn," he said of the 2015 trend. It "would rank right up there" with the boom years of 2005 through 2007, he added.
Similar trends are apparent nationally.
"The creation of jobs at a steady clip and the prospect of higher mortgage rates and home prices down the road is encouraging more households to buy now," Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said when that organization released its monthly report Thursday.
Current homeowners are often taking advantage of growing equity in their homes to fund the down payment on their next purchase, Yun said.
Yun warned sales growth could slow because of tight inventory and a continuing rise in prices. He also noted that the number of first-time home buyers is declining, even as the number of sales has risen.
"Rising rents and flat wage growth make it difficult for many to save for a down payment," Yun said, "and the dearth of supply in affordable price ranges is limiting their options."
Locally, the statistics can move up and down month-to-month as a result of a relatively small pool of transactions.
In Lake County, July sales increased to 622 from 573 last year, while the median selling price grew to $150,000 from $139,500.
In Porter County, sales grew modestly year-over-year in July to 253 from 248, while the median selling price declined to $168,800 from $171,750. That one-month slow-down comes after a $190,000 median selling price in June.
LaPorte County saw significant growth in the number of sales,to 137 from 116, but also saw a fall in median selling price, from $132,000 in July 2014 to $120,000 this July.
At some point growth will level off, Novak said, but he expects to see it continue in the near future as mortgage rates remain low. The average interest rate on a fixed-rate, traditional mortgage was 4.05 percent in July, according to mortgage bundler Freddie Mac.
"Who wouldn't take that?" Novak said.