The South Bend Area MLS records show that in March 2010:

The 238 sales add up to$24.27 million in volume. That is about 84% higher than February 2010 and about 42% higher than one year ago in March 2009.

Sales Prices

The high price sale in March was 18256 Forest Glade Drive in South Bend’s Bradford Shores. It’s a 3,739 square foot + finished walkout lower level home built in 2008 by Blake Builders. They listed it for sale in July 2008 at $779,900 and closed March 31st for $625,000. The list price was $735,000 at the time of sale.

The low price sale was 5202 Roger St in South Bend. It sold the day it was listed for $2,900.

Here are all 238 sales prices represented visually on a scatter graph

Financing

FHA loans were the largest market segment, by number of sales and sales volume. Cash sales take second place by the numbers but fall a distant third by volume. Conventional financing accounted for nearly the same sales volume as FHA loans, but on fewer purchases. VA loans and other financing remains rare in the South Bend Area.

Notre Dame Condos

There were no closed sales for any condos near Notre Dame in the MLS for March. Notably, an Oak Hill condo went under contract.  1407 Oak Hill Drive H4 is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath + finished lower level with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath condo. It has a small deck and one garage stall, and was listed at$145,000. It went under contract March 30th and was listed at $145,000 at that time. The sales price won’t be available until the transaction is complete.

This is the first activity other than new listings in that complex since the sale of 1557 Oak Hill Drive A7 in October, 2009.

New Construction

It was generally a tough month for builders. I found nine sales that look like new construction in the MLS. More than a few of them sold at steep discounts, as short sales or foreclosures.

18256 Forest Glade Drive, detailed above as the high price sale for March, sold at $625,000. It had been priced as high as $799,000 during its 600 days on the market. It was constructed by Blake Builders

Maxey Custom Homes sold two properties which appear to be short sales:

23077 Keifer Way sold for $146,000 with $5,000 in seller concessions. It was a foreclosure that appears to have been built by Place Builders.

1332 Penn Ave in Mishawaka sold for $110,000 with $3,000 in seller concessions. It was a foreclosure previously owned by Cleland Builders. It was originally listed for $139,900 in August of 2008.

Weiss Homes sold four houses all of which appear to be normal sales:

Have Questions? Need Help?

That’s the most detailed and most current market data you’ll find for the South Bend Area (South Bend, Mishawaka, Granger and the areas near Notre Dame).  But honestly it’s still not good enough to base an informed decision about buying or selling property upon. Even if you are just curious about a certain neighborhood or market segment and especially if you need to make a financial decision related to real estate – call us. We’ll talk to you openly and honestly and never lock you in to working with us.

5 Responses

  1. Excellent update on the Michiana real estate market.

    One question: “638 properties were listed for sale (includes properties re-listed after expiring unsold)” I take it you mean were new listing (including re-listings of previously listed properties)??? Right, not the total number of properties listed in the mls for Michiana.

    Looks like some builders are taking a punch to the gut on spec homes. Ouch. Any word on which, if any builders, have gone under? I had heard a few rumors but until confirmed for certain, I wouldn’t want to post. Builders can’t take a big loss on a home and stay in business for much longer.

    Looks like one seller in Oak Hill is getting realistic…which unit owner will be the next one to come their senses?

    Another tough month for ND related construction. I thought perhaps some Ivy Quad units (Clares) would have closed but I guess since they are ultra secret or something we can’t know until the disclosure forms??? Not sure if a Laraugh had actually gone under contract or not…could just be taken off of “available” for a model. Who knows with all the secrecy.

    1. “638 properties were listed for sale (includes properties re-listed after expiring unsold)” I take it you mean were new listing (including re-listings of previously listed properties)??? Right, not the total number of properties listed in the mls for Michiana.

      Correct. There are 2,468 residential properties listed for sale in the MLS of the Greater South Bend-Mishawaka Association of Realtors today. The 648 number is homes/condos that were newly listed (or re-listed) in March. I’ll clarify the wording in next month’s report

  2. It looks like the $8K bribe is working. I’m guessing April’s numbers will be artificially high also. Hopefully the credit won’t be extended so the market can truly correct itself.

Leave a Reply to Irish Eyes Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *