Been thinking about selling your home?

If you’ve been thinking of selling your home, but don’t believe it is worth enough to cover what you owe, you might be pleasantly surprised. The reason? Prices have gone up significantly during the last year!

This simple fact has helped a market that only about one year ago was still bouncing off the bottom, begin the slow, but steady process of recovery. As a result, people are buying homes again. 

I have a report that explains in detail why prices have gone up and why your home might be worth more than you think! Let me send you my report entitled “The Great Housing Rush.”  I believe you’ll be surprised by when you read the report. You can get the report by contacting me at cbreneman@prudentialindiana.com or by downloading it at my short sale site.

Once you are done, contact me today at for a free market analysis.

U.S. Home Prices on the Rise: What’s Next?

The Indianapolis Star reports that the average price of homes in the U.S. is steadily rising when compared to where they were a year ago. The most recent data, from May, shows a 12.2 percent jump from the 2012 averages.

For regular readers of this monthly newsletter, this is no surprise. There has been consistent good news on housing, like last month’s piece on home-sale agreements, or the 20 consecutive months of home sale improvements. In many places around the country, and even here in Central Indiana, it is starting to turn into a seller’s market — though buyers can still find fantastic deals and historically low interest rates.

After years of a down market, we are seeing signs of growth faster than we have in previous years. So what do you do next?

Well … it depends. If you’re looking to sell, now is a great time to list. There are still a few months left of the peak buying season, and if you move quickly, you can still show off your home with green grass and beautiful landscaping. If you’re looking to buy, rising interest rates should motivate you to contact me today and begin the buying process, which includes determining the kind of home you need and getting pre-approved for a mortgage.  I even have lenders that I can recommend to you.

Even though the peak buying and selling season is winding down, continued growth is showing that this year’s gains will continue into fall and winter. But who wants to look for homes in the snow when you can do so now in this beautiful weather? And if you wait until next Spring you will most certainly see higher interest rates.

Contact me today to get started.

Home Sale Agreements are Still Rising

For people into numbers, there are plenty of good stats coming out about Central Indiana’s real estate market. For people who aren’t into math, the key takeaway is that the nine-county Indianapolis-area real estate market is selling more homes than it has in years.

The Indianapolis Business Journal reports that year-to-date home sales are nearly 20 percent ahead of the 2012 pace, and the average sale price is more than 5 percent up from last year — through June the average sale price was $161k. Even high-end real estate is increasing, as seven $1 million homes were sold in June.

June saw 2,637 purchase agreements on existing homes. Marion County agreements are up 5.5 percent from last year, while Hamilton County saw an 8.3 percent jump.  If you are interested in more detailed information about home sales in your neighborhood, please let me know.

An active market is a healthy market, so if you’re looking to buy a home, now is a good time to start.

Let me know if you’re ready to buy or sell a home in the Indianapolis area, and we will work diligently to put you in the home of your dreams.