13 WTHRHome sales rising across nation

Home sales rising across nation

Richard Essex/Eyewitness News

Indianapolis - Nationwide, realtors say buyers are taking advantage of of lower prices and lower interest rates. It could mean a buyers and sellers market in Indiana.

"The first-time home buyers are really coming out and they are helping generate the business right now," said realtor Nina Klemm.

Bringing people into the market for the first time is the $8,000 stimulus money offered by the government and with banks tightening the purse strings, loaning to more qualified buyers than in the past, houses are starting to move.

"It is different. Our office is booming, we have more sales on the board than I have seen in a very long time and all the price points are first-time home buyers," said Klemm.

With first-timers buying, second- and third-time buyers are also starting to come back into the market.

"Which is going to move up the line, which is exciting, because we see the market kind of turning right now," Klemm said.

A barometer that realtors use to gauge the market is, "How long does that sign stay in your front yard?" They say that time is getting shorter.

"That is what we are hearing from our members. They are saying there are a lot of people out there now asking them to show them houses, so it is generating a lot of interest," said MIBOR CEO Steve Sullivan.

But the upswing comes with a kink. Prices are lower, brought down by the large number of homes still on the market and homes taken back by banks.

"A lot of that has been dragged down the past several months by the large number of foreclosure properties, particularly the 75,000 mark," said Sullivan.