Indy Realtor's Blog: Indianapolis Condominiums

I wanted to highlight two different and contrasting areas of the Indianapolis real estate market today: Broad Ripple and Meridian Kessler.

Broad Ripple: Broad Ripple is arguably one the “coolest” areas in all Indianapolis and offers the areas best nightlife.  Butler University is right around the corner and the college atmosphere overflows into the streets of Broad Ripple. However, Broad Ripple is one of Indianapolis’ “cultural districts” and has more to offer than just a great nightlife and a young atmosphere.  I actually thing the discover Broad Ripple website sums it up quite well “Diverse street life, quaint shops and hot night life are set to the back drop of public arts, graffiti murals and beautiful greenway.  Art galleries,…

The area of Geist in Indianapolis is one of the only areas in the metro area where you can find true waterfront living.  Geist is not a town or a city, but more of a community in the northeast portion of Indianapolis and it shares its borders with several other cities including Fishers, McCordsville and Fortville.  Geist is centered around the areas most popular body of water, Geist Reservoir.  Geist reservoir is a man made lake that has seen a boom in construction of past decades.  As a result, both new homes and existing older homes can be found in the Geist area.   

Geist real estate comes in all shapes, sizes, and price ranges.  Modest condos can be found in the low 100’s while waterfront homes can easily run into the millions.  The Geist area also…

I am quite sure Benjamin Dona will write a much more insightful post about this, but the FHA has clamped down guidelines again in order to stem the “buy and bail” buyers. Essentially buy and bail is when a person purchases a new home, vacates their old house and claim that they will be renting it out to offset their debt to income ratio. They then let the old home go to foreclosure with no intention of renting it out.

Until now, all that was required for FHA in this situation was a lease agreement. No more. FHA has instituted new underwriting guidelines that require the borrower to qualify for both mortgages. Lenders are now NOT allowed to consider any rental income from a property being vacated by the buyer.

There are however 2 exceptions that do…

If you look at my last post on Indianapolis condos, I mentioned how supply was outpacing demand.  Well, while that is true, the average sales price for condos in downtown is up, way up. 

Despite the fact the number of Indianapolis condominiums sold is down by more than 100 or 36% since last year, the average selling price rose to $324,541 in 2008.  This price jump represents an increase of almost $50,000 or 18% over the previous year’s numbers.  Obviously, this means despite the decrease in units sold there are higher priced units selling in downtown Indianapolis. 

My best guess is that more and more people are finding that downtown living is more attractive with gas prices and the general cost of living increasing on a daily basis.  In addition,…

The Indianapolis condominium market is about to become even more of a buyer’s market; with over 1,000 units either recently built or under construction competition is getting fierce and prices are being reduced.  This situation is not unique to the Indianapolis area as developers across the country face the same situation.  Many condo projects were started several years ago during the real estate boom and have yet to be completed leaving developers with unsold units and a changed marketplace.  While some condos are being converted to rental units, there is still a huge supply of condos on the market.  According the National Association of Realtors, the U.S. finished 2007 with enough condos to absorb 10 months of demand; and with more and more projects…