Spring 2020 Market Update

Spring has sprung in Tippecanoe County, Indiana! It was definitely a mild winter (with noticeably absent snowfall), and that has allowed the real estate market to fire right up. And things are vicious. Wow.

Buying a Home in Tippecanoe County Right Now

So, if you’re jumping into the fray as a buyer, put on your armor right now because you’re going into battle. Also, hug your Realtor and lender partners—they’re going to need it.

Number of Homes on the Market

If you want to buy a home in Tippecanoe County right now, you have exactly 159 options. There are an additional homes 38 homes that will allow you to submit a backup offer.

What price range? What style of home? What town or city? That’s total, y’all. 159 homes are available right now in the entire county. If you want to be picky (like if you have any sort of search “criteria”), you can imagine how quickly that list will whittle down.

Let’s see how adding in criteria lowers the number of home options. For instance:

• 10 years old or newer (61 active homes)
• One story (90 active homes)
• A lot of an acre or more (39 active homes)
• Under $150k (29 active homes)
• West Lafayette School Corporation (9 active homes)

The more open-minded you are, the more likely you are to be able to find something.

Tactics That Can Help

To say the pickins’ are slim is an understatement. But don’t feel discouraged if you’re wanting to buy a home. A realtor’s job is to help you find a home that will meet your needs, so hiring a good one who KNOWS the area you want to buy in is key.

Additionally, make sure your financing is lined up and that you’ve gotten a pre-approval from a lender (not just a pre-qualification). A pre-approval shows that you’ve already been vetted by a lender, and it may give you a leg up with sellers, especially in a multiple-offer situation.

Another thing you can do is make sure you (and whomever you’re buying a home with) have a clear list of needs and wants. This will help you know when a home will work for you, which means you can make an offer with little hesitation. This just may help you snag a home before someone else gets it.

Selling a Home in Tippecanoe County Right Now

All right, let’s have a look at recent home sales. Since January 1 of this year, 297 Tippecanoe County homes have closed. An additional 234 are under contract in “pending” status. And, still another set are between pending and sold: “contingent—accepting backup offers.” This means that there are still contingencies that have to be met for the buyer to be willing to move forward (inspections, financing, appraisal, etc.), so buyers can put in a backup offer if they’d like to.

Speaking of backup offers, we’re seeing more and more of them this spring. This means that the seller and buyer will negotiate the terms of an offer that waits in second place. If the first (currently pending) deal falls apart, the backup offer immediately goes in to play. We’ve seen a few buyers move to the primary position in line after having been in backup offer position. (As many Realtors will tell you, deals fall apart often in these crazy markets when buyers make quick decisions under pressure.)

Year-to-Year Comparison

 Now, for the sake of a year-to-year comparison, let’s look back at this time last year (1/1/2019 to 3/10/2019).

Number of Homes Closed

 At this time last year, 263 homes had closed. So, in terms of units sold, we’re ahead of the game in 2020 (by 34 closings).

Days on Market

 Now, let’s talk about days on market (or DOM… one of a gazillion acronyms used in the real estate industry). The average DOM for a home in Tippecanoe County in 2020 is 33 days. For the same time period in 2019, the average DOM was 46 days. So, you can see how things are off to an even faster pace this year.

Sales Price

Last but not least, let’s talk about average sales price. The average sales price to date in 2020 is $194,111. Last year for this time period was $179,079. Less inventory=higher prices.

Interest Rates

It wouldn’t be a market update without mentioning our ridiculously low interest rates, which are certainly having an effect on the real estate market.

The Fed reduced interest rates by .50 percent last week in an emergency stimulus move. Mortgage interest rates have continued to drop, and they are at historic lows, giving buyers more buying power and encouraging a deluge of refinances.

Since writing this, the Fed has reduced rates yet again, which has caused a lot of volatility in the markets and with interest rates (investors have been nervous). It’s likely that rates will go down and stabilize at some point as things settle down.

What’s Coming Up This Spring and Summer

So, what’s ahead for the market in Tippecanoe County as we head into the spring and summer season? Well, it’s already a complete frenzy, as I mentioned above. With historically low inventory AND historically low interest rates, we’re seeing insane activity. Some buyers with savvy agents are being matched up with the right home before it’s even listed for sale (hooray for you if this happens).

Are you trying to jump in? Let me know how I can help!

*All stats as per IRMLS (time periods specified) as of 3/10/20 and 3/11/20