ANDERSON — A sure sign the local economy is starting to turn around, home sales in Madison County are once again up year-to-date against 2014's numbers.
Despite a pretty significant dip in the number of house on the market, home sales across the county are still up compared with this same time last year. Through August, the last time home sale numbers were available, sales were up 14 percent in Madison County. Compared to August of last year, home sales were up almost 6 percent.
The year-to-date climb of 14 percent was the highest climb in the nine central Indiana counties in the study done by the F.C. Tucker Company. Shelby County was the second highest with a 13.4 percent increase.
Perhaps even more promising is the average sale prices of homes increasing as well in Madison County.
According to numbers from the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors, the average sale price for a home in Madison County in August was $106,640, a 6 percent increase compared with sale prices last August. Year-to-date average sale prices in Madison County are pegged at just a hair more than $94,000. Nearly a $10,000 increase per house compared with 2014.
The county is still well behind the other central Indiana counties as far as average sale price though. The next closest average price is Shelby County at $120,000 per home, but Madison County has the biggest percentage jump, pointing to the gap closing.
Scott Sparks, the managing broker for Carpenter Realtors' Anderson branch, said there has always been a big gap between Madison County's sale prices and other counties, like Hamilton and Hancock counties. But prices are getting back up to normal levels after a couple of years of rising prices.
"We're starting to get back to normal in Madison County," Sparks said. "Prices haven't totally rebounded yet but they're up."
Sparks said the area does continue to see low inventory, which has an effect on sale prices and the number of days a house stays on the market.
"That's been a big driver in what has been going on this year," he said. "In Madison County there are about 1.5 houses for sale per square mile. That's not very many."
While all other counties saw some decline in inventory, Madison County saw the biggest drop with almost 24 percent. The active listings in the county were 639 in August, according to the F.C. Tucker survey. That's down from 840 listings in August 2014.
Sparks said home listings tend to drop off a bit as the summer winds down.
Jim Litten, president of F.C. Tucker, said the Indianapolis area is a seller's market.
“The residential real estate story in the Indianapolis area continues to be declining inventory and increasing prices, which is attractive for home sellers,” Litten said.
Michael Hicks, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University, said an increase in home sales in the Lapel and Pendleton areas are a result of spillover from people working in Hamilton County. The lower prices and good schools are a strong appeal to families, according to Hicks.