Most expensive home sold in Owen County this year had offer in 3 days

The most expensive home sold in Owen County in 2022 fetched its first accepted offer within three days of being on the market.

The nearly 5,000-square-foot home sits on a 10 acre-property on Johnson Road, about a 10-minute drive south of Spencer and a 15-minute drive west of Ellettsville. It includes four bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, five fireplaces, a pool and a bonus room above the garage that features an A-frame roof and a retractable movie theater screen.

“It had just tons of really cool features,” said Tara Cromer, a Century 21 Scheetz real estate agent who sells homes primarily in Bloomington.

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The seller, a licensed electrician, had owned the home since it was built in 1994 and made lots of upgrades throughout the years.

Though the home lacked an open floor plan, Cromer said it featured modern appliances and a clean look, seclusion but quick access to Bloomington, high-speed internet and was beautifully maintained.

“Just goes to show that hard work and investment in your property pays off,” she said.

Cromer listed the home on May 5 for $658,000, and it had its first accepted offer on May 8. At the time, the Federal Reserve Bank had only begun to raise interest rates, and it was still very much a seller's market.

During parts of the past two years, the state’s housing market got so tight that the number of homes for sale represented only a one-month supply. That means at a normal pace, all of the available homes in the state would be sold within 30 days.

Real estate experts generally say a six-month supply indicates a market that is balanced between sellers and buyers. A one-month supply represents a market strongly tilted toward sellers, meaning sellers are likely to get high and quick offers because of strong competition — and buyers have to dig deep into their pockets.

Cromer said on some homes this spring she had more than a dozen offers.

While that first accepted offer on the Johnson Road home  — and some subsequent ones — fell through, for reasons including financing, the home sold in mid-July for $710,000, or nearly 8% above listing price.

However, mortgage rates, at 6.5% in early December, have more than doubled in the last year and have cooled the market a bit, which, Cromer said, benefits buyers, sellers and their agents.

Cromer said early in the year she sometimes wrote an offer while she was showing the home.

“Nobody was really getting to think or sleep on it,” she said.

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And many times, people made an offer on a home only to be left disappointed because they had to compete with so many other offers. And for sellers, a sale is not just about money. Other factors, including appraisals, inspection and who the lender is can be important pieces of the puzzle, Cromer said.

With higher mortgage rates, properties are seeing fewer — though often still multiple — offers, and they’re allowing buyers and sellers a bit more time to think and negotiate, she said.

The median price for Owen County homes sold in October was $208,000, down 7.5% from a year earlier, according to the Indiana Association of Realtors. The number of homes sold that month, 15, was down 21% compared to a year earlier. However, year-to-date, the median home price is $220,000, up 22% from 2021, though the number of homes sold, 149, fell 14%.

Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Owen County's most expensive home sold in 2022: 10 acres, 4 beds, pool