46628Â is an area within the South Bend housing market that is near and dear to myself and the Irish Realty family.
It is not only the location of our business office, but the location of my home, as well as several subdivisions developed by our principal broker Steve Cooreman including Boulder Bay, Westwood Knolls, The Villas at Lake Blackthorn, Terra Verde, and The Oaks (pricing and availability available at Cooreman.com). This market has great amenities nestled within its borders that include the Blackthorn and Elbel golf courses, German Township Library, and the South Bend International Airport to name a few.
This zip code is the most populous in South Bend, housing over a quarter of its 100,000 residents, although since it extends well beyond the confines of the city limits 46628 is not nearly as densely populated overall as other zip codes within the region. So it should come as no surprise that it is one of the most diverse housing markets in the area with roughly half the home sales in the past 12 months being below the $100K mark and roughly half above it. That’s a positive year over year change in activity from the previous 12 months where the split was 60/40.
Like the rest of the housing market at large, 46628 has seen benefits from the strong existing home sale trends of 2016 with median days on market down 58% (Figure 2) and has seen a modest 6% increase in the average sales price of homes. But the real standout statistic is the astounding 28% increase in median sales price (Figure 1), indicating that the low end of this market has been stabilized significantly, likely due in part to the ongoing activities on the part of our city government that have positively impacted distressed areas within 46628 such as the Vacant & Abandoned Houses Initiative, the Lincolnway Corridor Revitalization Effort, and South Bend Smart Streets Initiative. Also driving increased stability was the 4% decrease in the gross percentage of foreclosure activity over the past 12 months within this market from a very high 17% of existing home sales the prior to 12 months to a significantly better 13%.
All signs point to continued growth in the regional and national housing markets over the near term, and thanks to several factors including access to jobs and amenities and a proactive city government, the 46628 market is likely to not only keep pace with the broader overall growth trends, but continue to see increased stability and continued development.
About the author
Steve Smith
Senior broker and team leader at Irish Realty, Steve has been a top producing agent since 2005 and has represented clients in transactions totaling well over $130M in career sales. With a broad experience base that is not simply limited to single family homes, coupled with his market leading track record of success, Steve has established himself as one of the South Bend area’s most respected Realtors. You can follow Steve on Facebook and several other social media platforms.