Monday, April 29, 2013
Sunday, April 28, 2013
April Steve & Jack's Home News
Welcome spring and the April showers that come with it--in some cases a LOT of water. We hope this e-mail finds you well...and dry.
Our big news is that Natalia had a tonsillectomy on Friday. She was the last in our family with tonsils, so we are grateful to be finished with that and Natalia is healing extremely well. We truly hope you never have a need for a good ENT, but if you do, we can highly recommend Dr. Hackett. He is simply outstanding!! Jack and Mary Anne have been very helpful with watching Talia this week for us while she recovers.
Anastasia is preparing for her First Communion in two weeks. This has been a 2-year preparation process and she is so excited! We are hosting quite a bit of family that weekend and are looking forward to seeing everyone again.
The housing market is on FIRE! Overally, we are down to 5.2 months of inventory, however in many parts of Hamilton County, we have only a few weeks of supply creating an extreme sellers' market. Some agents are knocking on people's doors asking if they would consider selling. We have five buyers right now who are having a very difficult time finding a home that meets their needs. If you are even remotely considering selling this year, please call us as we would love to consult with you about your options.
Enjoy your spring and warmer weather and thank you for your continued trust and confidence!
Click here to read our April newsletter.
Click here to see our new and improved coupon and discount saving site. If you haven't checked this out yet, please take a moment to do so and save some money.
Your Personal Real Estate Consultants...for Life!
Steve & Jack Rupp
Our big news is that Natalia had a tonsillectomy on Friday. She was the last in our family with tonsils, so we are grateful to be finished with that and Natalia is healing extremely well. We truly hope you never have a need for a good ENT, but if you do, we can highly recommend Dr. Hackett. He is simply outstanding!! Jack and Mary Anne have been very helpful with watching Talia this week for us while she recovers.
Anastasia is preparing for her First Communion in two weeks. This has been a 2-year preparation process and she is so excited! We are hosting quite a bit of family that weekend and are looking forward to seeing everyone again.
The housing market is on FIRE! Overally, we are down to 5.2 months of inventory, however in many parts of Hamilton County, we have only a few weeks of supply creating an extreme sellers' market. Some agents are knocking on people's doors asking if they would consider selling. We have five buyers right now who are having a very difficult time finding a home that meets their needs. If you are even remotely considering selling this year, please call us as we would love to consult with you about your options.
Enjoy your spring and warmer weather and thank you for your continued trust and confidence!
Click here to read our April newsletter.
Click here to see our new and improved coupon and discount saving site. If you haven't checked this out yet, please take a moment to do so and save some money.
Your Personal Real Estate Consultants...for Life!
Steve & Jack Rupp
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Indianapolis Housing Market Update
Existing-home sales market surging 15 percent across Indiana
Associated Press
April 9, 2013
Nissa Ricafort and her husband figured their ranch-style home in northeast Indianapolis would take two to three months to sell, but the weekend it hit the market the couple had 17 showings and accepted an offer for the full $185,000 asking price.
"It was the most insane thing I ever experienced," said Ricafort, a family law attorney. "But a good insane. I closed on the sale of one home, then closed on the other four days later and moved in between. It's really worked out great."
The housing market has spiked so much in some places in the Indianapolis area that real estate agents are turning to Facebook and going door-to-door looking for prospective sellers because of a shortage of houses for sale. Sales are up overall statewide, with Indiana reporting 68,015 homes sold from March 2012 through February 2013, a 15.2-percent increase over the same period a year earlier. For the first two months of 2013, sales were up 20.5 percent. Home sales have improved on a year-over-year basis for 20 consecutive months.
"In the major markets, everything seems to be very, very busy," said Kevin Kirkpatrick, president of the Indiana Association of Realtors. "We don't have enough inventory for the number of buyers that are out there right now. That's what's causing prices to go up. They're not skyrocketing, but things are moving in the right direction."
The median cost of a home in Indiana is up 4.7 percent, from $112,750 to $118,000.
Toby Muhlhofer, an Indiana University assistant professor of finance who specializes in real estate, said it's not surprising the housing market in Indianapolis is leading the comeback.
"It makes sense because Indianapolis is where Indiana's economic output is centered," he said.
Other areas also are seeing improvement.
"It's still very clearly a buyer's market, but that pendulum is beginning to swing and I think consumers are noticing that," said Peter Novak Jr., chief executive of Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors.
Some buyers are having trouble even finding homes to look at. Tonya Sanderson of Fishers said she's been looking nearly a year for a four-bedroom house with a three-car garage and a yard big enough for a pool in the school district she lives in, but there have been few houses to look at.
"We really thought by now there would be a lot of houses being listed and we'd have a lot of options, but we're not seeing that," Sanderson said.
She said she's considering putting letters in mailboxes of homes she likes to see if people are interested in selling.
Cindy Marchant, a real estate agent since 2001 in Fishers, said home sales in the suburb are up 48 percent from a year ago. She said it's the best market she's seen. She attributes the improvement to pent-up demand, low interest rates, improving consumer confidence and homeowners becoming frustrated last year at the lack of sales lowering their prices.
"It was the perfect storm, but no one was jumping because everyone was afraid because so many people were unemployed," she said. "It was hard to go out on a limb and buy a house. But I think now, people are ready to make a move."
Kirkpatrick worries, though, that the resurgence is fragile.
"If something happens with North Korea or something happens with oil prices, it could knock it off real quickly," he said.
Associated Press
April 9, 2013
Nissa Ricafort and her husband figured their ranch-style home in northeast Indianapolis would take two to three months to sell, but the weekend it hit the market the couple had 17 showings and accepted an offer for the full $185,000 asking price.
"It was the most insane thing I ever experienced," said Ricafort, a family law attorney. "But a good insane. I closed on the sale of one home, then closed on the other four days later and moved in between. It's really worked out great."
The housing market has spiked so much in some places in the Indianapolis area that real estate agents are turning to Facebook and going door-to-door looking for prospective sellers because of a shortage of houses for sale. Sales are up overall statewide, with Indiana reporting 68,015 homes sold from March 2012 through February 2013, a 15.2-percent increase over the same period a year earlier. For the first two months of 2013, sales were up 20.5 percent. Home sales have improved on a year-over-year basis for 20 consecutive months.
"In the major markets, everything seems to be very, very busy," said Kevin Kirkpatrick, president of the Indiana Association of Realtors. "We don't have enough inventory for the number of buyers that are out there right now. That's what's causing prices to go up. They're not skyrocketing, but things are moving in the right direction."
The median cost of a home in Indiana is up 4.7 percent, from $112,750 to $118,000.
Toby Muhlhofer, an Indiana University assistant professor of finance who specializes in real estate, said it's not surprising the housing market in Indianapolis is leading the comeback.
"It makes sense because Indianapolis is where Indiana's economic output is centered," he said.
Other areas also are seeing improvement.
"It's still very clearly a buyer's market, but that pendulum is beginning to swing and I think consumers are noticing that," said Peter Novak Jr., chief executive of Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors.
Some buyers are having trouble even finding homes to look at. Tonya Sanderson of Fishers said she's been looking nearly a year for a four-bedroom house with a three-car garage and a yard big enough for a pool in the school district she lives in, but there have been few houses to look at.
"We really thought by now there would be a lot of houses being listed and we'd have a lot of options, but we're not seeing that," Sanderson said.
She said she's considering putting letters in mailboxes of homes she likes to see if people are interested in selling.
Cindy Marchant, a real estate agent since 2001 in Fishers, said home sales in the suburb are up 48 percent from a year ago. She said it's the best market she's seen. She attributes the improvement to pent-up demand, low interest rates, improving consumer confidence and homeowners becoming frustrated last year at the lack of sales lowering their prices.
"It was the perfect storm, but no one was jumping because everyone was afraid because so many people were unemployed," she said. "It was hard to go out on a limb and buy a house. But I think now, people are ready to make a move."
Kirkpatrick worries, though, that the resurgence is fragile.
"If something happens with North Korea or something happens with oil prices, it could knock it off real quickly," he said.
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