INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — More houses are hitting the market – but as inventory increases, so are home prices.

Dan Brown is a realtor with FC Tucker. He joined Daybreak on Tuesday for the monthly Real Estate Rundown. He discussed the most recent data in the housing market report from April.

Brown said April is one of the busiest months of the year in real estate and this year was no different. Key data from April’s report shows a very strong, fast-paced market.

Prices

Prices have increased for the third straight month following three months of decline. The average sales price is now $330,000, with Hamilton County leading at over $500,000.

“April was a very healthy month in central Indiana for real estate,” Brown said. “It’s about what we expected. There’s a lot of demand in the market and that demand found some houses to buy. So, that drives up prices a little bit. Prices have rebounded – that’s the third month in a row. Prices have sneaked back up, but that’s normal for spring when there’s more demand. That demand followed three months of decline over the winter.”

Inventory

Big gains were present in last year’s inventory in Marion County – up 16%; Johnson – up 28%; Hamilton – up 30%; and Hendricks – up 63%.

“We talk about (inventory) every month and inventory is and always will be an issue, but it is improving,” Brown said. “It doesn’t feel like it’s improving because things are moving very quickly. And the better homes are selling as quickly as they go on the market, but inventory is up, and substantially in some of the donut counties.”

Days on market

Average days on the market for inventory dropped another 20% to 35 days on average.

“Days on market, which is a metric we use to measure the speed of the market dropped another 20% again for the spring month,” Brown said. But he says this drop isn’t unusual.

“Things tend to be more active there. But, you know, the median day on the market is eight and the average is about 35. So, if you place your house on the market, you should reasonably expect it to take about a month. And if it’s in a high-demand area, it might take as little as a week,” Brown said.

Interest rates

Interest rates dropped in the first week of May to 7.09% after climbing for five straight weeks, including all of April. Brown says if the downward trend continues into the summer, there could be a very dramatic impact on prices and market speed.

“We have a market that is extremely sensitive to interest rates due to affordability and concerns by both buyers and sellers who are sitting on interest rates with their own mortgages, which are in the threes and fours,” he said.

“So, we watched this very closely and all of those progressive numbers came in a market where the rates were actually creeping up. Now last week, which was, of course, going to be reflected in May, they came down for the first time in five weeks. So we’re going to be watching that very closely next week.”