With the first day of school looming, it’s not just parents and kids feeling the pressure. Real estate brokers working to get folks settled into homes before the bell rings are busier than usual.
“The school season now starts on Aug. 12, it has cut our selling season very tight,” said Sarah Portone, associate broker with Remax Results in Schererville. “Agents are working like crazy people because of this new early arrival to school. It is a new dynamic that we are dealing with —compiling that with a hot market, agents are working like crazy.”
It has been awhile since “hot market” and “real estate” have been seen in one sentence, but in Northwest Indiana, real estate agents in Lake and Porter counties are now cautiously optimistic.
“They are doing much better—and better than we would have expected,” said Peter Novak, chief executive officer for the Greater Northwest Indiana Realtors. “They are selling 9 percent more properties than last year in Lake County and last year was pretty good. That is substantial to us. That’s more than we could have hoped for, for sure—the median selling price is up close to 8 percent in Lake County. Both positive signs. Lake County is a driver in our area—two to three times the number of homes sold in Lake versus Porter, 644 during June of 2015 in Lake County and in Porter they sold 240 properties.”
The median selling price this year in Lake County through June 30 is $134,900. In Porter County, the price is $171,500.
GNIAR President Rose Dobbins, an associate broker with Coldwell Banker in Highland, said she recently heard another agent say, ” ‘You know the market has gotten better when a property has gone under contract in 12 days that was over $1 million dollars.'” Dobbins did a little research and discovered such a property in Long Beach.
Novak acknowledges the real estate market is cyclical and the sales pick up in spring summer and fall months, based on some of those patterns. “Generally, the winter months are going to be the slower months. School systems certainly have a big part to do with that,” Novak said.
Add to that the increased consumer confidence that has home buyers outpacing sellers in Lake and Porter counties.
“We are still suffering from lack of inventory, although it is getting better,” said Dobbins.
“Typically at this time of year, there’s more of an influx of buyers to get into their homes before starting school. The problem is finding them a place, because they go so quickly. It’s been a struggle, you have to jump right on it.”
Sometimes more than one buyer will want to jump on a property and that leads to multiple offers.
“Bidding wars are definitely here. Once a property goes on the market, if it is meets the three factors of price location and condition—if all of those factors hit-—there’s a large pool of buyers ready to make an offer on that type of home,” Dobbins said.
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In the 30 days leading up to Aug. 4, there were 56 new listings in Highland compared with 36 new listings in the prior 30 days.
“The homes in Highland that went under contract in the first 30 days were getting about asking price, or over asking price, and that’s probably due to a bidding war,” Dobbins said.
Dobbins said she’s seen bidding wars in Crown Point, Highland, Munster, Schererville and St. John. She said it is not unusual for a Highland home to sell for just a little bit over 100 percent of the sales price—an estimate based on sales since January 1. The median selling price in Highland is $156,000.
“Two or three years ago for a seller to get multiple offers on a property was almost unheard of,” said Novak. “In the last year or so, I’ve heard a lot of stories about bidding wars. If a property is selling above asking price, that means there was a bidding war. That means the buyer really wanted it.”
In terms of Northwest Indiana hot spots or most desirable locations, Dobbins and Novak agreed, it all depends on the buyer.
“One of the big drivers for a family is going to be the school system,” Novak said. “Anecdotally, it is all relative. Buyers will be attracted to what they see as being better. This is happening in communities like Hammond, East Chicago, Hanover and Valparaiso.”
He pointed to the need for residency requirements in many school districts to ensure that the enrolled students live in the district.
“Some people get the impression that people from Illinois are only moving to Cedar Lake or Valparaiso,” but they are also going to other school systems such as East Chicago and Hammond, Novak said.
Overall, according to Novak, Northwest Indiana is a bargain from the perspective of Illinois residents choosing to move across the state line.
“Lake County would be on that state line. Things like property taxes and getting more bang for your buck in the house. Our organization has been in support of the South Shore extension. That makes Indiana and even more attractive place to live for people who commute. Something like that would only add to someone saying Indiana is a place to call home.”
Nancy Coltun Webster is a freelancer for the Post-Tribune.