Home sales in Indianapolis and the surrounding counties continue to spiral downward both in terms of the number of houses sold and the prices at which properties are selling, according to statistics released by the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors (MIBOR) for January 2009.

Boone, Brown, Decatur, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Madison, Marion, Montgomery, Morgan, Putnam, and Shelby counties were included in the study, which compares statistics for January 2009 to those reported a year ago, in January 2008.


The following numbers tell the story:

• Home sales plummeted 22 percent, from 1,544 units (or residences) sold in January 2008 to 1,208 units (or residences) in January 2009.
• The average* sales price dropped 11 percent, from $133,231 in January 2008 to $118,089 in January 2009.
• The median* sales price dropped 18 percent, from $105,500 in January 2008 to $86,900 in January 2009.
• The number of new listings decreased 28%, from 5,115 in January 2008 to 3,692 in January 2009.
  *Quick math refresher course: The average sales price is determined by adding up the sales prices of all properties sold and dividing by the number of sales, whereas the median is determined by lining up the sales prices from lowest to highest, and identifying the number that falls squarely in the middle.
  

  A Closer Look at Marion and Its Surrounding Counties

  
  A survey of the actual number of properties sold in January 2008 compared to the number sold in January 2009 in Marion and the surrounding counties shows that Morgan County fared best with a sales decline of 7 percent, while Boone County experienced the greatest decline, with a decrease in sales of 42 percent.