Back To Front - Carmel's 2014/2015 Real Estate Market

Seeing a rainbow is always a sign of optimism so as I took this image coming out of my daily @MononCommunity center workout today I took it as a positive omen. 

While in raw statistics Carmel's housing market slid back in terms of sales there's no reason to panic. The first three months of 2014 put us double digit numbers of home sales behind 2013 due to the extreme weather and we never fully recovered. Available home inventory for sale also was down and that contributed as the year wore on. Some who wanted to move couldn't find the right destination. That problem will ease for several reasons this year. More newly built properties will give home buyers options and will push more resale properties into the market as those owners move on to new construction. That also means that those new spec homes will be competitors for resale properties in some cases. Here's the wild card. Last year the first time home buyer was the lowest percentage of the market in decades. This year that type of buyer will be back to some degree and that will drive all price points forward. Why will they be back?  More single digit down payment loans are appearing and the ease of gas prices will certainly also help. More on that phenomenon HERE. 

In a nutshell here's what the geography and raw stats of Carmel's 2014 housing market looked like. 

In all of Carmel 1659 homes sold in 2014 (1819 in 2013). The average sales price last year was $340,763 ($327,956 in '13). In 2014 Carmel homes averaged 66 days on the market compared to 74 in 2013. The average price per square foot of sold homes last year in Carmel was $123 versus $120 in '13. The high sale in Carmel last year was $1,971,000. In 2013 the high sale was $3,100,000. The 2014 low sale was $50,000 versus $26,000 the year prior. 

Geographically 573 homes sold last year in west Carmel (US 31 to Michigan) contrasted to 685 in '13. In Midtown (US 31 to Keystone) 518 properties changed hands versus 538 the year before. In east Carmel (Keystone east) 554 homes sold opposed to 586 in 2013. 

In summary....fewer homes sold at an improving sales price. They were on the market less time and their price per square foot above grade also improved. Despite fewer units sold the market overall was positive which is a unique circumstance. Odds are when we look back at 2015 sales prices, units of homes sold and most every factor surrounding home sales will be on the rise.
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