The South Bend Area MLS records for January 2010 show that

The 121 sales added up to $9.6 million in volume. That is the lowest monthly sales volume going back as far as the South Bend MLS provides electronic records, mid 2001. It is also the first time the sales volume has fallen below $10 million.

Sales Prices

The most expensive sale was 51572 Norwich, which sold for $400,000. It last sold in 2001 for $375,000.

Two properties sold for $3,000, the lowest price. One of those, 234 Calvert sold for $5,000 in 2008 and for $18,000 in 2003

There were 14 sales under $10,000
There were 18 sales over $150,000

Here are all 121 sales prices, represented visually on a scatter graph

Financing

Cash accounted for more than half of all sales.  FHA and conventional loans each accounted for about 20% of the sales. VA loans and other types of financing remain uncommon here.

Notre Dame Condos

No condo or townhouse near Notre Dame sold through the MLS in January.  Several properties in neighborhoods like Mishawaka’s The Forest and South Bend’s Somers Square sold, but it was a slow month for complexes near Notre Dame. January is commonly slow for Notre Dame homes. In January 2009, there were two such sales. In January 2008, there were four.

New Construction

I found MLS data for the January sale of two newly built homes.
A Weiss built home in South Bend’s Royal Oak Estates, which sold for $211,225.
A Jeff Moser built home in Granger’s Stoneybrooke Shores, which sold for $328,400

Have Questions? Need Help?

While this is the most detailed and most current information you’ll find on real estate sales in the South Bend Area, there are significant details we can’t share here. If you need to better understand the market to make smart decisions, or need help buying or selling property call or e-mail. We’d be pleased to hear from you.

15 Responses

  1. These numbers are worse than I expected and I am a realist and fairly blunt. I guess I was too bullish, ouch. I wonder if the harsh winter weather was a factor, we’ll see how the spring and summer goes. Where was the sale for the $375K house toward the end of January? Only three homes sold for more than $225K…..welcome to the reality of cash home purchases. Just think if the govt wasn’t buying MBS (they are the ONLY buyer of this stuff, that tells you something)…we may find out after March when perhaps no entity will buy this stuff and interest rates on mortgages rise 1/2%-1%. The real estate depression continues…

    Thanks again Nick for these numbers, they are a fantastic pulse on the Michiana market! 🙂

  2. Interesting about the three “high end” (above $225K) homes that sold in January….a new home, an old home on the river, and a newer big Granger home. You get a lot for $300K-$400K in Michiana.

  3. You’d be amazed what I can find for $300k-400k in/near South Bend. I’ll try to feature some examples soon.

    You have to be comfortable with uncertainty about the future conditions of the market to buy now. But three and four years ago most people were certain prices would rise. And they were wrong.

    People who buy today are in a much better position than the masses who bought a few years ago during the boom. I’m not sure that people who buy a few years from now will be better off than those who purchase while others are watching and waiting. It depends on government actions, which are hard to predict, and individual’s actions, which are nearly impossible to predict.

  4. The Innovation Park and Ignition Park will be key to South Bend real estate. We need new job creation in this area. Without new job creation and new residents/money coming into the area, prices will remain flat or decline.

  5. Outside the Box – My general impression is Innovation Park and Ignition Park are too little, too late to do much, especially in this economy. Michiana is late to the party with these concepts. There are so many other areas already doing this stuff that are, quite frankly, much more attractive. Perhaps our taxpayer dollars would be better spent expanding The College Football Hall of Fame or The Cove! (obviously that is sarcasm)

    1. Don’t count out Innovation Park yet. Notre Dame has amazing connections and many companies would love to be in their network. I think a few professors have come to ND partially to work on applications of their science at Innovation Park.

      If Notre Dame continues tiptoeing towards a full blown medical school where physicians and engineers could work on front edge cancer treatments and other practical applications of nanotechnology discoveries, Innovation Park could fill with startups. Such a scenario would nicely pull together Notre Dame’s desire to be known as a world-class university, and its Catholic character with a stated goal to make a positive impact on the world at large.

      Ignition Park is already an improvement on the Studebaker’s rubble that littered the site a few years ago. But I hope the city isn’t counting on any tax revenue from the project for many years. I did see that at least one member of the redevelopment commission is wary of landbanking the site for decades at the expense of existing but less glamorous businesses.

      I don’t think either Park will create many jobs in the next few years, but much of the recent growth in the county has been tied to medicine or education. Those fields may offer the area’s brightest future.

  6. “If Notre Dame continues tiptoeing towards a full blown medical school”

    – Never going to happen, never. I remember years ago what Fr. Hesburgh told me why ND never pursued a medical school and what he told me is even more applicable today (conversation is confidential). Sure there will be some limited joint projects since the medical field interacts with so many other areas of study, but it will remain limited. The joint venture with IU has been around for decades so that is not a new development. Moreover Innovation Park was “forced” on ND as a part of a larger negotiation, it is ND’s unwanted stepchild that will surely be neglected except for limited political reasons. If any profs move here because of it, it is mostly for the $$$ for patents and the like that they could develop. Nano tech is already being hotly pursued by much larger research universities around the world…ND is playing catch up here. Just like the performing arts center with a big name director who leaves disillusioned by what the ND admin does and the restrictions placed. Just look at Weis, and how he only bashed the ND admin upon leaving. I am afraid ND has become so myopic that they can only admire themselves in a hand mirror but can’t see beyond that. ND is a big fish in a very small pond (South Bend)…a pond that is getting smaller every year. All the tax breaks in the world won’t pull people and businesses away from Silicon Valley and similar areas. It just isn’t going to happen even with a new Chipotle Mexican Grill at Eddy Street Commons…heck, it won’t even attract people away from the Chipotle Mexican Grill in Mishawaka…even though it is in “South Bend’s newest shopping, dining and entertainment destination is now open!”

  7. I do think large companies will eventually start to leave California and New York because of insane taxes and equally insane regulation by excessively large government agencies which continue to grow in scale.

    On the recent ND departures, I have learned in my career that there are always two sides to every story and the employer’s story never gets told because of confidentiality.

    I am very grateful for all that Notre Dame continues to do for the community. The retail portion of Eddy Commons has been a success so far in my opinion. I joined the fitness center and have been amazed by all the customer activity with so few tenants currently open. Based on temporary signs, it looks like there are a couple more restaurants that will open before the start of the 2010-2011 academic year.

  8. Outside the Box – “On the recent ND departures, I have learned in my career that there are always two sides to every story and the employer’s story never gets told because of confidentiality.”

    – Well, I have some information from the “inside” and I stick by my comments. For me, ND’s problems can be summed up in what they did to Demetrius Jones…to strong arm the kid like that is truly unbelievable and terribly immoral. As a Domer, I was ashamed. Sadly, he is just one person on a long list.

    – Someone forwarded me this article…the comments tell it all…

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0205-problem-craig–20100204,0,1538315.column?page=1

  9. Irish Eyes,

    It’s sad that you have to be so negative. Why do you continue to stick around if you hate the area so much? People complain that we don’t do “enough” to attract new businesses, etc. Then, when we do, they complain about what is being sought and how to do it. If you are so well educated, then perhaps you could offer some insight as to what needs to be done? (I’m not trying to be a smart alec. I TRULY want to know what you think.)

    Incidentally, people said the exact same thing about nanotechnology and tech parks when I lived in Albany. It takes 5-10 years to notice the impact of these initiatives to the community. Any nanotech center will tell you that. The research takes that long to be developed in order to have a true impact. When I went back to visit friends in Albany last year, I was actually SHOCKED by the development that has happened because of the nanotech industry. We were chosen as a center of nanotech. The only one in the midwest. It may take a while, but it WILL eventually add to our community. Next, we just have to get everyone to buy into it. Manufacturing is dead, and people need to get over that. There are jobs around if people will get off their butts and get an education. My brother in law is actually having a hard time finding local people to fill jobs at his place of employment due to lack of proper education. ALL of his new hires come here from out of town. Many of the other colleges are now offering degrees in nanotech, technology and other areas that our area desperately needs. Give us a chance. We aren’t any different from any other rust belt city trying to reinvent itself. I wouldn’t get so much on the defensive if you didn’t almost seem to revel in the fact that his area has it’s challenges.

  10. K – I would start with schools and crime both of which need fixing in South Bend. The fact that I don’t readily toe the party line and parrot silly rhetoric shouldn’t be construed as “negative”. South Bend is what it is so pretending it is something different doesn’t help move things forward. I volunteer to assist small businesses and startups, I can tell you it is rough right now with lack of consumer demand. Another idea would be to tax ND such as a $5 vehicle tax or ticket tax. While I am generally against taxes whenever possible, ND has not ever paid their fair share…ever…and this is coming from someone who was on the inside for decades until retired. At least they should pay for their own sh@t through a properly allocated sewer charges (it was fought tooth and nail). Is ND going to have a medical school? No. Does ND really support the new tech park? No. Did ND lower its standards in football and throw all kinds of money at the program (like you would not believe)? Yes. Did it help? No. Does ND want control over ESC but didn’t want to fund it? Yes. Does ND want locals on campus? Only if they are spending lots of money.

    Mishawaka has better city government and bar none the downtown re-development project is beyond expectations, it is a pity that it really launched after the credit bubble burst but it takes years and years to implement such a masterful plan. Perhaps Mishawaka could annex SB? But they are too smart for that! LOL

    Glad you found a home you really like. But you have to ask yourself, why are homes here so much cheaper than in DC that you can buy one with just the equity from your old place?

  11. I will counter on the fair share argument as ND creates jobs that create payroll taxes, home purchases (which lead to residential property taxes), sales tax and so on.

    Crime and jobs are national issues and not just South Bend issues. All cities face these challenges. If you want to live in Chicago, you will pay $300-500 per sqft plus one of the highest sales taxes in the country and the city has many crime issues. In New York, you will pay $900-1,000 per sqft for residential in Manhattan and they have terrorism fears every day. All areas have their pros and cons but it is what you make of it.

  12. Outside the Box said – “I will counter on the fair share argument as ND creates jobs that create payroll taxes, home purchases (which lead to residential property taxes), sales tax and so on.”

    – So does every business in Michiana AND they pay taxes. Your argument is old and is misleading. ND should still pay…directly…it’s fair share. Plain and simple as that. They have been caught cheating out of taxes and other such payments due to governments. Anyone that believes ND doesn’t violate things…knowingly…until they get caught and then pays up is naive at best. I suppose we could all just bury our heads in the sand and watch “Rudy” to stay in denial. The new ND (Inc.) isn’t Hesburgh’s ND anymore, not by a long shot. Do you really think that 99% of the ND football players who “volunteer” for anything would do so if not for the pressure put on them for PR purposes? They just basically show up for the photo op. Maybe I am being a tad cynical after receiving ND list serve e-mails regarding the tragedy in Haiti…shameless. The reality is ND is less than a drop in the ocean of help….donate to the Red Cross instead!

    – Enough about that, the real question is, will there be a double dip in real estate prices in Michiana like recently reported in Boston, Atlanta, and San Diego? Will persistent unemployment and the return of traditional mortgage lending standards continue to drive down demand, and thus housing prices, in Michiana?

  13. The double dip is here unfortunately. The 2010 moving season will likely be weak which will create double the inventory in theory for 2011.

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