NWI home sales notching year-to-year gains

Sales for existing single-family homes in Northwest Indiana increased on a year-to-year basis for the third-straight month in September, with Porter County sales again leading the way, according to the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors.

Home sales were up 17.9 percent in September as compared to one year ago in the five counties covered by the association, with Porter County sales powering to a 46.8 percent increase.

Still, the year-to-year increases of recent months may not be enough to make up for a dismal first six months of the year, when homes sales were down 14.3 percent in the region.

Realtors locally are citing consumer confidence as the largest single barrier to home sales, said Bill McCabe, broker and owner at Century 21 Executive Realty in Schererville. Unemployment, partisan government bickering and media coverage are contributing to the uneasiness.

"All of them talk about consumer confidence," McCabe told a meeting of The Times Board of Economists on Wednesday. "They say Americans are confused. They don't know what's going on."

Nationally, sales of existing single-family homes increased 12.2 percent in September when compared to September 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Sales agreements that fail to go through remain a major problem for the industry, with 18 percent of National Association of Realtors members reporting contract failures in September, said Lawrence Yuhn, chief economist for the association. That was up from 9 percent one year ago.

Banks rejecting mortgage applications, appraised values below negotiated prices and other problems including home inspections and job loss are figuring into those failures, Yuhn said.

Interest rates remain a huge positive for the industry, with the average rate for a 30-year conventional mortgage averaging just 4.11 percent in September, according to the association. The rate was 4.35 percent in September 2010.

"Interest rates are just phenomenal," McCabe said. "If you want a home and need a mortgage, it's a great time to do it."

Buyers apparently felt that way in Porter County in September, with 160 existing single-family homes sold there as compared to 109 in September 2010, according to the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors.

In Lake County, 339 existing single-family homes were sold in September, compared to 323 in the year-ago month, for a 5 percent increase, according to the association.

The Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors represents Realtors in Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Jasper and Starke counties.