Indianapolis Area Real Estate Blog

All Real Estate is Local

Stories on TV about the national real estate market are misleading to Americans.  This is because there is no such thing as a 'national real estate market'. Consider the latest American Housing Survey.  It found that there are 124,377,000 homes in America spread across:

  • 50 states, with
  • More than 30,000 incorporated cities, and with
  • An innumerable number of neighborhoods

And yet, the media repeatedly groups all 124 million homes into one giant lump and then gives an analysis.  No matter how you slice and dice the data, a home in Oregon can't be compared to a home in Indiana. The real estate market in New York City has little to do with what is happening here in Indianapolis. This is why national real estate statistics are somewhat useless.

To get real estate analysis that matters, look local insteadAnd I don't mean stats from your state -- I mean stats from your neighborhood.  It's the only way to know what's driving home prices on your street. You can drive through any city or suburb around Indianapolis and see every neighborhood and community is different. Finding local data is far too narrow to be covered by the press. 

So, the best place to get local real estate data is from a local real estate agent or from somebody else with access to raw real estate data in and around your neighborhood. By talking to 'in the market' professionals that know your backyard, you'll get a much clearer picture of your local market -- good or bad -- than the national media could ever provide. Real estate is a local market so your real estate data should be local, too.

Contact me if you want to know what the stats are for your Indianapolis neighborhood.

Discussion

#1 By Russell Volk at 9/2/2008 9:55 AM

I couldn't agree more with you.

I serve the entire Bucks County area and we have neighborhoods that have seen a 25% price decline in the past couple of years. We've also seen a few neighborhoods in the same county that have seen a 10% increase in prices.

Just because prices in California, Arizona and Nevada have dropped almost 50%, doesn't reflect the economy in your county, city or even a neighborhood.

Great post.

Website Bucks County Real Estate

#2 By Paula at 9/7/2008 5:22 PM

Russell -

Same here - every neighborhood is different. I have seen homes sell in days, while others languish in our crrent market.

Having local knowledge of a neighborhood is the first proactive step in determining value and it's definately different from neighborhood to neighborhood.

#3 By Buenos Aires Real Estate at 1/12/2009 9:55 AM

Maybe what they are just trying to show with these numbers is just a tendency, of couerse that some lucky areas might resist this fall in the market.

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