BLOOMINGTON — B-Town might be the best college town to find a home, according to recently released research from real estate company Redfin.
Redfin economists compared Bloomington to 50 college towns in several categories. According to its study, home sales and listings increased more in Bloomington this year than in any other college town.
"It seems like buyers have a real opportunity here and sellers can get a lot of demand for their property at the same time," said Redfin economist Chen Zhao. "It's a nicely balanced market."
Redfin reports Bloomington's home sales rose 32% and the number of listings in town increased by 25% within the past year.
Rick Mellinger bought a newly constructed home just south of Bloomington last year. He says he has noticed a lot of new neighbors moving in since he got there.
"This summer, we had both of the houses across the street and a house behind us under construction," Mellinger said. "The people next door are originally from Long Island, and we had folks move in just recently from the Lakeland, Florida area."
While many of his neighbors are new transplants, Mellinger lived in the same Bloomington home for nearly 30 years before his big move.
"My wife and I lived in a rather large home in a different part of Bloomington," Mellinger recalled. "Both of us retired and were thinking about downsizing."
Zhao said people like Mellinger have an easier time buying homes in Bloomington compared to other college towns due to how stable the Midwest housing market is compared to the coasts and the South.
"Bloomington in particular, it seems like over the past few years we haven't seen this huge rise in prices that we've seen in other metros," Zhao said. "What that means is your money is going to go a lot farther in a place like this, and with a lot more inventory on the market, it allows people who want to get into homes to get into homes."
According to Redfin, Bloomington's median home price is $330,000. It also reports that only 2% of homes in Bloomington sell over the asking prices and that houses stay on the market for an average of 62 days.
