Sales of existing homes in September in Northwest Indiana took a dip this year, with the seven-county area recording its lowest September level since 2014.
A total of 920 existing homes were sold in September, according to the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors. That was off 40, or 4.2%, from last September.
But for the year, Northwest Indiana remains up, with 8,269 sales topping the first three quarters of last year by 1.9%. And the median sale price continued its rise, up 4.1% year-over-year in September, and up 7.8% for the first three quarters of the year.
The median sale prices in Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Jasper, Newton, Pulaski and Starke counties was $165,500 in September, and is $165,000 for the year.
Lake County saw a significant decline of 9.8%, to 523. The median price was up 2.1% to $160,500. Porter County made up for some of that, with sales increasing by 15.2% to 212, and the median price up 8.9% to $209,950.
LaPorte County recorded a 6.9% decline in sales, to 108, and a 10% in median price, to $145,700.
Statewide, sales were down 3.6% year-over-year, to 7,430, while for the first three quarters they were up 1.2%, to 68,346, according to the Indiana Association of Realtors. The median sales price was up 6.7%, to $160,000 for September, and is up 8.8%, to $159,000, for the year.
Sales nationally, reported on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis, were down almost an identical percentage as sales locally. The National Association of Realtors reported sales at a rate of 5.15 million in September, down 4.1% from a year ago.
"This is the lowest existing-home sales level since November 2015," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. "A decade's high mortgage rates are preventing consumers from making quick decisions on home purchases. All the while, affordable home listings remain low, continuing to spur underperforming sales activity across the country."
The median price also rose at a comparable rate to the local price. The national median was $258,100, up 4.2% from a year ago.
