Existing single-family home sales dropped in Northwest Indiana in January even when compared to January of 2009, a month when the housing crisis was reaching its depths.

Single-family existing home sales in January were down 2.6 percent from January of the year before, with 300 homes sold this January as compared to 308 in the year-ago month, according to the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors.

January 2009 was one of the low-points for home sales locally, with sales plunging 33.5 percent from the year-ago period.

The January drop from the previous month of December was 44.4 percent, although that number is subject to steep seasonal variation in Northwest Indiana.

"January is always bummer month for us," said Sandy Bleau, of Harkin Realty in Hammond.

Bleau said the market is on the mend with many distressed and foreclosed properties now off the market.

"I have seen a return to the retail market instead of what I call the distressed market," she said.

Nationally, single-family home sales in January picked up 8.6 percent from January of 2009. But January sales fell a disappointing 6.9 percent from December.

The month-to-month numbers are more closely watched nationally, as they are not as subject to seasonal variations as home sales in Northwest Indiana.

People who began looking to buy a home after the extension and expansion of home-buyer tax credits in November have only recently started making offers, so it will take a couple of months to close those sales, according to Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.

He expects sales to pick up strongly in the spring, as buyers rush to beat the April 30 deadline on homebuyer tax credits and buyers continue to chip away at inventory.

"Still, the latest monthly sales decline is not encouraging, and raises concern about the strength of a recovery," Yun said.

The key to increasing sales this year will be job creation, according to Melody Sanchez, managing broker at McColly Real Estate of Highland.

"Once people are more secure in their jobs they will be buying," said Sanchez, who also is the new president of the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors, which covers the five counties of Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Jasper and Newton.

Home sales in Northwest Indiana, fueled largely by the first-time home buyer credit and low interest rates, rose strongly in the last three months of 2009. Still, sales for the year overall declined 8.2 percent from the year before.

In Lake County, home sales in January dropped 7.4 percent as compared to sales in January of 2009, according to the association.

But the selling price of homes was up 42.8 percent, with a median sold price of $110,700.

Changes in the median sold price do not necessarily reflect what comparable homes are going for from one year to the next. That's because the types of homes and price ranges people are buying in during any one month can vary widely.

In Porter County, home sales dropped 4.8 percent from one year ago, with 60 homes sold. The selling price of homes in Porter County was down 14.8 percent from one year ago, with a median sold price of $152,580.

Homes sales cool off

Lake County existing single-family home sales

January 2010: 188

January 2009: 203

Change: down 7.4 percent

Porter County existing single-family home sales

January 2010: 60

January 2009: 63

Change: down 4.8 percent

Source: Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors