The residential real estate market in Northwest Indiana bucked the national and Midwest regional trends in October by posting 5.4 percent growth in the sale of existing homes, as compared to the same month a year ago.
National sales were down just under 1 percent year-over-year, and sales in the 12-state Midwest were down 1.5 percent from a year ago.
Sales in the seven counties that make up GNIAR totaled 973 in October, up from last year's 923, according to the association's Multiple Listing Service. Tight supply and robust demand mean the median sale price continued its rise — by 10.6 percent to $158,000.
Novak said the inventory is down 10 percent from a year ago. The "sellers' market" means sellers are reducing their asking price less frequently. "For the most part, sellers are getting what they want," Novak said.
Porter County led local sales, with growth of 22.7 percent to 243. Lake County's sales declined in October by 1.6 percent, to 538. LaPorte County's grew 10.1 percent to 120, and the other four counties of GNIAR — Jasper, Newton, Starke and Pulaski — saw collective growth of 4.3 percent, to 72 sales.
The median selling price rose across the Region, up 12.8 percent in Lake to $156,750, up 4.3 percent in Porter to $189,900 and up 11.1 percent in LaPorte to $127,750.
For the year-to-date, 9,073 sales in Northwest Indiana represent a 2-percent increase over the first 10 months of 2016. Sales have been up for six of those months, with February as the only month with a significant year-over-year decline, when sales were down 10 percent.
That month also saw the only median price drop for the year, down 2 percent from February 2016. The other nine months have contributed to an overall rise in the median price of 6.2 percent, to $154,000.
Nationally, a 0.9 percent year-over-year decline in sales was tempered by the fact that it was the highest number since June.
"Job growth in most of the country continues to carry on at a robust level and is starting to slowly push up wages, which is in turn giving households added assurance that now is a good time to buy a home," National Association of Realtors chief economist Lawrence Yun said. "While the housing market gained a little more momentum last month, sales are still below year ago levels because low inventory is limiting choices for prospective buyers and keeping price growth elevated."
Yun said the impacts of hurricanes Irma and Harvey are still being felt. "However, sales should completely bounce back to their pre-storm levels by the end of the year," he said.
The NAR also reported these October results Tuesday:
• The median existing home sales price was $247,000, up 5.5 percent from October 2016.
• Total housing inventory at the end of October was 1.8 million existing homes for sale, down 10.4 percent from a year ago.
• Properties on the market during October typically stayed there 34 days, down from 41 a year ago.
• The average commitment rate for a 30-year conventional fixed-rate mortgage was 3.9 percent, up from 3.81 percent in September, according to Freddie Mac.