Indy home prices rise, foreclosures fall

Homeowners in the Indianapolis area are in better financial shape than they’ve been in years.

Mortgage foreclosures in May fell again in the Indianapolis area, hitting just 1.56 percent of all active mortgages.

Meanwhile, home prices are on the rise. The median sales price of homes that sold in June rose 3.5 percent to $150,000, Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors said today.

The foreclosure rate is half what it was in late 2012, when it began dipping as the economy strengthened and fewer homeowners had trouble affording their mortgage. The metro area foreclosure rate has slid every month since November, when it stood at 2.08 percent, according to CoreLogic, which tracks mortgage data nationally.

The Indianapolis mortgage market continues to be stronger than the U.S. as a whole. The national mortgage foreclosure rate was 1.73 percent in May.

Also falling in May was the mortgage delinquency rate, which slipped in the Indianapolis area to 4.19 percent. That’s the percent of mortgages with payments 90 days or more overdue. The delinquency rate, a good indicator of foreclosure trends, has fallen steadily almost every month for over a year and a half. The U.S. delinquency rate in May was a bit worse, 4.4 percent.

One big helping hand for mortgage holders the past two years: The cost of mortgages has fallen to near historic lows, with interest rates under 4 percent at times. That’s allowed existing mortgage holders to refinance their loans at lower rates, cutting their monthly payments to lenders.

The welcome rise in home prices in June happened even though sales fell slightly, by 1.4 percent, to 3,145 in Central Indiana compared to a year ago. This year has been a disappointment to real estate agents and builders in the metro area. For the first six months of this year, sales were down 8.2 percent compared to last year.

The sales drop occurred despite a nearly 2 percent jump in homes on the market in June in the 13 Central Indiana counties tracked by MIBOR.

Call Star reporter Jeff Swiatek at (317)444-6483. Follow him on Twitter: @JeffSwiatek.