News Release
INDIANAPOLIS — Existing home sales across Indiana finished 11% below a record-setting 2021 as thirty-year mortgage rates rose to average more than 6% over the latter half of the year.
Existing home sales totaled 88,821 in 2022, according to annual data collected from the state’s eight MLS marketplaces by the Indiana Association of REALTORS®.
U.S. housing sales saw a sharper decline from 2021 to 2022, falling roughly 16% according to year-end estimates from the National Association of REALTORS.
Tight inventory continued to confront Indiana homebuyers despite a slower-paced market, with new listings (102,764) down 5% from 2021. Even though the monthly inventory of homes for sale increased modestly year-over-year, monthly active listings were 25% below 2020’s average and half 2019 levels.
“Indiana housing in 2022 is a story of stability against stiff headwinds,” said Indiana Association of REALTORS CEO Mark Fisher. “Sales were less than two percent off 2019 – a strong pre-COVID market – even as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates repeatedly to battle inflation at a forty-year high. Rising rates added more than $400 to the monthly payment on a $200,000, thirty-year mortgage.”
Even with higher borrowing costs reducing overall demand (and homebuyer budgets) Indiana’s median home price grew 12% to $235,000 from 2021 to 2022; the U.S. median sale price increased 9.6% to $384,500. Hoosiers selling a home received 99% of their original listing price on average for the year, and the median time from listing to pending (under contract) was unchanged from 2021.
“Even though national challenges pushed Indiana into a more balanced market, low inventory still favors sellers,” Fisher added. “But housing remains more affordable here than much of the country.”
With average mortgage rates falling seven of eight weeks to end the year in response to encouraging data on consumer inflation, Fisher sees Indiana real estate continuing to outperform national trends.
“Limited supply could put a ceiling on our recovery,” he cautioned. “REALTORS® want to help more Hoosiers on the journey to homeownership – with 2022 in the rearview mirror, we need more available homes at all price levels to rebuild a healthy housing market.”
Regional Highlights:
- Every region of Indiana experienced at least a 25% decline in monthly sales in December versus 2021 to close the year, with homebuyers showing the most holiday cheer in North Central Indiana (-25%).
- Home sales in West Central Indiana (Terre Haute and Vincennes, east through Putnam County) continued a year-long stretch of outperforming statewide sales trends: Its 2,282 sales were just 4% below 2021.
- Columbus/Bartholomew County also resisted a significant slowdown from 2021, with sales down 5%.
- Among other regions, Northeast and Southwest Indiana each closed 2022 with a relatively modest 8% decline from 2021; Allen County (Fort Wayne) was a leader among urban centers with total sales (5,466) finishing 7% below ’21.
- Central Indiana (MIBOR) closed the year slightly behind the statewide year-over-year trend, down 12% after outpacing the state in sales in 2020 and 2021.
- Central Indiana also saw slightly higher median price appreciation than the state (12%); other markets with faster-growing property values included Greater Fort Wayne (13% increase in median price), LaPorte (13%), and the university-driven communities of Bloomington and Lafayette (14%).
- Conversely, homebuyers enjoyed slower-than-state-average price growth in Columbus/ Bartholomew County (7%), Elkhart (7%), Southeast Indiana (7%), Greater Evansville (4%) and Northwest Indiana (6%).
