Carmel and Hamilton County Real Estate Information

We are excited to inform you of a recent opportunity that will position us to build upon the same exceptional service you’ve come to expect from O’Neil & Company Realtors.

As of January 4, 2010 we have joined Encore Sotheby’s International Realty as Founding Members. This change, while substantial, requires no action on your part other than understanding the benefits to you while buying and selling real estate on the Northside of Indianapolis.

Founded in the mid 1700’s, Sotheby’s has a long-standing reputation of outstanding knowledge, service and the ability to sell hard to sell items. It is exciting to be a part of such a grand opening as it unfolds in our city.

Sotheby’s perspective compliments the ideals our business was built on. They understand that uniting people with properties is more of an art than a science and are committed to discovering the distinction in all homes. Their commitment to providing unrivaled service and a refined experience matches our own and will allow us to help you achieve your dreams while remaining a connoisseur of life

We are certain our association with Sotheby’s will be mutually beneficial. As always, if there is anything we can do for you, your family or your friends, please call our email. 

Our best wishes to each of you and to your families for a successful, prosperous and personally rewarding New Year!

What a year it's been. Thank you for following us as we update you weekly of Northside Indianapolis' real estate progress, and sometimes lack thereof. All in all, this year was not nearly as bad as predicted. Plan on more of the same during 2010, the key indicator is going to be interest rates, if they continue to stay at their levels, the market should remain robust, but if they tick up as expected, it could call for a slow down in sales.

As 36 homes went under contract in Hamilton County and 91 in Marion County during the holiday week, we thought you'd like to see a brief recap of 2009 by the numbers:

As always, we enjoy being your source for information and if there is anything at all we can do for you, your family or your friends, please let us know.

From Jay, Jason and Ryan

Welcome 2010!

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NAR Issue Brief Homebuyer Tax Credit

National Association of REALTORS^® Government Affairs Division 500 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington DC, 20001

The Wall Street Journa's Home Buyer Tax Extension Q&A:

The Obama administration blessed the proposed extension of the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers on Thursday as the Senate neared a compromise that would extend the credit to more potential buyers.

Here’s a primer on who might be able to get the expanded credit, and what it might do for the housing market:

Who gets the credit, and how much can they claim? First-time home buyers are eligible for up to $8,000 on the tax credit, which is the same as the current credit. The Senate version of the bill creates a new credit of up to $6,500 for homeowners who have lived in their homes for five years. That provision would start on Dec. 1.

How long will it last? The tax credits would expire on April 30, 2010, but home buyers under contract by April 30 would be able to qualify as long as they complete the sale within 60 days. Keep in mind, this would be the third iteration of a home buyer tax credit that has been in place since mid-2008. Sen. Johnny Isakson, the Georgia Republican who has been a staunch advocate of the credit, promised that this would be the “last extension” of the credit, according to Dow Jones Newswires’ Corey Boles. “Tax credits like this only work by creating the sense of urgency to take advantage of it,” Sen. Isakson said.

Will the tax credit do anything for the high-end of the market? Probably not. The tax credit phases out for home buyers with incomes above $125,000 for single filers and $225,000 for married couples. Also, homes that cost more than $800,000 aren’t eligible for the credit. Overall, the tax credit is likely to generate only a modest further increase in home sales, says Tom Lawler, an independent economist in Leesburg, Va.  For many well-paid people, he says, it won’t make a big difference: “A household earning around $150,000 is likely to buy a home of $500,000 plus, so a $6,500 credit won’t be much of a factor in pushing such households off the fence.”

What other limits does the credit have? Toddlers are out of luck. Last week’s congressional hearings spotlighted concerns about misuse of the credit, including some 500 tax filers under age 18 who had claimed the credit.

So will the expanded tax credit help sales? That’s a point of debate among housing analysts and economists. Alec Phillips, economist at Goldman Sachs, notes that expanding the credit to people who already own homes doesn’t necessarily make a big dent in the supply of housing on the market. “If these ‘step-up’ buyers already own a home and sell it to finance the new one, that hasn’t reduced the amount of inventory for sale,” he says.

But Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, thinks the extension is a big deal. Based on a preliminary analysis, he said it should mean at least 500,000 in additional sales, atop the 400,000 he estimates already have been generated by the tax credits (twice the Goldman estimate). “The tax credit is not a very efficient tax cut, but not extending it would do significant damage to the still fragile housing market,” Mr. Zandi said.

By WSJ Staff

NIck Timiraos and James R. Hagerty report:

The average time a sold home stays on the market has dropped by 25% since the first quarter of the year. Carmel's inventory is shrinking and prices are holding relativel steady. I expect this trend to cintinue through 2010. Two things to watch out for: Extension of the First-time Homebuyer Credit and Interest rates. Both catalysts have the ability to significantly impact the market's direction. ~ Jason O'Neil

The following is an AP article posted on Thursday talking about the pending home sales on the rise nationally. This is a seven month trend. We see this trend falling tailing off as much of the "increase" in sales is seasonally based. 

WASHINGTON - Aspiring homebuyers rushed to take advantage of a tax credit for first-time owners that expires in November, driving up the number of signed sales contracts for the seventh straight month in August.

Construction spending also rose unexpectedly in August on the biggest jump in housing activity in nearly 16 years, another sign the real estate market is recovering from its four-year slump, data Thursday showed.

Sales and homebuilding are being fueled by a tax-credit of up to $8,000, low mortgage rates and cheap foreclosures. In some of the most hard-hit areas, like Phoenix and Las Vegas, there are bidding wars for deeply discounted properties. And in all but a few cities, home prices are slowly starting to rise, reversing their three-year descent.

To make sure first-time buyers can complete their purchases by the Nov. 30 deadline, real estate agents "have been pushing buyers to sign a contract at least a couple months in advance" according to Abiel Reinhart, an economist with JPMorgan Chase.

More than a dozen bills have been introduced in Congress to extend the credit, but it's unclear if lawmakers want to continue to subsidize the market.

The National Association of Realtors said Thursday its index of sales agreements rose 6.4 percent from July to 103.8, beating forecasts. It was the highest since March 2007 and 12 percent above a year ago. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the index would rise to 98.6.

Typically there is a one- to two-month lag between a contract and a done deal, so the index is a barometer of future sales. However, new rules for home appraisals and rigid lending standards have scuttled many sales agreements recently. In addition, the index may also double-count some buyers who agree to purchase other homes after the first deal falls through.

These factors have made the index a less reliable gauge for completed sales. Despite a steady increase in the number of signed contracts this summer, for example, completed sales actually took an unexpected 2.7 percent dip in August.

"Perhaps the real question is how many transactions are being delayed in the pipeline, and how many are being canceled," Lawrence Yun, the Realtors' chief economist, said in a statement. "Without historic precedents, it's challenging to assess."

Pending sales were up 16 percent in the West and 8 percent in the Northeast. They were up 3 percent in the Midwest and nearly 1 percent in the South.

Home prices, meanwhile rose 1.2 percent from June to July, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 major cities. On a seasonally adjusted basis, prices rose in all but three metro areas, Las Vegas, Detroit, and Seattle.

Housing experts, however, remain divided on whether the price gains signal a definite bottom to the worst housing downturn in decades or just a brief respite from plummeting prices.