Sales of existing homes in Northwest Indiana finished 2019 with fewer homes sold than the previous year.
A total of 10,608 closed sales were logged between January and December in 2019, down 2.2% from 10,849 the previous year, according to data provided to the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors by the Indiana Realtors Association. GNIAR covers Jasper, Lake, LaPorte, Newton, Porter, Pulaski and Starke counties.
Declining inventory of homes available for sale likely was a factor in lower sales. In December, there were 2,842 homes available for sale, down 2.8% from 2,924 in December 2018.
Tighter inventory may also have contributed to higher prices sellers got for their homes. For the year, the median sales price was $176,500, up 7% from $165,000 in December 2018.
Sellers in 2019 on average received 95.7% of their list price, which was a 0.4% increase from 95.3% at the end of 2018.
For the month of December, Northwest Indiana had 777 closed sales, down 0.4% from 780 in December 2018.
The median sales price was $175,000, up 8.7% from $161,000 in December 2018. Sellers in December received 94.8% of list price, which was a 0.3% increase from 94.5% in December 2018.
The average sales price of homes in Northwest Indiana was $201,266, up 8.8% from $185,020 in December 2018.
Realtor.com, the official website of the National Association of Realtors, in its annual forecast released in early December, said the U.S. housing market would continue slowing in 2020 mainly because buyers would have fewer options and a cooling economy could slow consumer spending.
Realtor.com projected the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. metropolitan statistical area, would see 2020 sales drop 0.9% and sale prices to fall 0.3% from 2019. The Chicago MSA includes Lake, Porter, Japer and Newton counties in Indiana and parts of southern Wisconsin.
