Indiana
What does $500K buy in Indiana in February? See inside 5 homes around the state
Real estate video: Tips for first-time homebuyers
Tips for first time homebuyers
Evan Frank/IndyStar, Wochit
With 2024 now in full swing, let’s take another look around the state at the real estate market.
Nationally, mortgage rates are holding steady in the 6% range, down from 8% in October, but the overall inventory is still down about 4% year over year, real estate tracking site Redfin data shows.
Thanks largely to the reduced inventory, the median U.S. home sale price rose 5.1% during the first four weeks of January, according to Redfin. That jump was the biggest increase since October 2022.
In Indiana, home prices were up 3.5% in December compared to a year ago.
Here’s a look around the state at what buyers in the $500,000 price range might find in various cities.
Indiana home buying: What income do Indianapolis homebuyers need to buy a home? It keeps going up.
Indianapolis
This custom-built home on Columbia Ave. is only two years old and has more than 2,600 sq ft of space.
The 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath features exposed brick, ductwork and wood beams in the kitchen and living area, along with granite countertops and a 5-burner Italian stove.
The two-story craftsman-style home with a detached garage is close to the Monon, Bottleworks and Mass Ave and is listed for $510,000.
Mooresville
Just south of Indy, this $525,000 charming rustic log cabin in Mooresville sits on more than 3 acres of land.
The 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath home comes in at just shy of 3,000 sq ft of space and combines modern amenities with the classic cabin style. A spacious porch lets you take in the surroundings outside, while a wood-burning fireplace in the living area and a large soaking tub in the bathroom keep you warm during the winter months.
Additionally, a 2-car attached garage and a newly built 3-bay garage provide plenty of storage or workshop space.
Evansville
This Charleston-style colonial home in Evansville has plenty of space and curb appeal, with more than 3,200 sq ft, 3 bedrooms and 3.5 baths.
Built in 2004, the brick home on 1.5 lots has four fireplaces, a large rec room, a courtyard and an attached 3-car garage.
Features like a wet bar in the living room, built-ins (including a safe) and woodwork throughout the entire home add character and function.
Terre Haute
This Terre Haute home offers unique architecture and the chance for country club living.
Listed for $500,000, this home on the 14th hole of The Country Club of Terre Haute Golf Club has more than 4,800 sq. ft. of space and shows off the surrounding landscape with banks of floor-to-ceiling windows.
With six bathrooms, four bedrooms plus a wood-paneled library that can be a home office or fifth bedroom, the space also includes an attached 3-car garage, walkout basement and a lower-level game room.
Florence
For buyers looking for water views, this home overlooking the Ohio River is listed for $515,500 and has its own boat dock.
A full wall of windows in the main living area and a covered front patio provide great views of the water and beyond.
Sitting on 11.5 acres, you’ll have plenty of space for outdoor activities while an RV canopy and 1,800 sq ft pole barn with concrete flooring are perfect to store your vehicles or get creative with the extra space.
Indiana
Man dies after near east side apartment shooting
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A man is dead after a shooting Thursday night on Indy’s near east side, police say.
According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, just after 8 p.m., officers were called to the 2000 block of East Washington Street on a report of a person shot.
When officers arrived, they found an adult male inside an apartment with injuries consistent with gunshot wounds.
Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services transported the man to a hospital in critical condition, where died shortly after arriving.
Homicide detectives responded to the scene to begin the investigation.
Crime Resources
Indiana
Braun asks regulators to reconsider $71 million AES rate increase
Gov. Mike Braun asked state regulators to reconsider their decision to greenlight a $71 million rate increase for AES Indiana, doubling down on his condemnation of a move that could leave Indianapolis residents with higher electrical bills for years.
Braun wrote in a June 18 news release that he had asked Indiana Utility Counselor Abby Gray, who heads the office representing ratepayers in proceedings before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, to petition for a rehearing of the AES rate case.
Gray indicated in the release that her office would submit the petition shortly. No petition had been posted on the IURC’s online docket as of this story’s publication.
The rate increase, which was approved by the IURC on June 17, was substantially less than the $192 million increase that AES initially requested. It was also less than the amount proposed in a settlement last October between AES and major electricity consumers.
But the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, which Gray leads, came out strongly against any increase to AES’s base rates. In September, the OUCC called for a $21 million reduction instead.
As the Republican Party grapples with rising discontent over affordability, Braun has used opposition to rising utility rates to telegraph that he’s committed to keeping costs down for Indiana residents. He signed a law in February that allows the state to make rate-setting decisions that reward or penalize utilities based on metrics including affordability.
In March, he told reporters that he would take on Indiana’s five investor-owned utilities, describing himself as the “new sheriff in town.”
And after the IURC voted 3-1 to approve the AES rate increase, he wrote in a post to X that he was “deeply disappointed.”
Braun wrote in the June 18 news release that he had appointed Gray, a longtime OUCC lawyer and judge, to her current post because he knew she “would help me fight for Hoosiers.”
According to AES’s estimates, the rate increase will cost households an additional $5 per month for every 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity they use, beginning in July. A second hike will take effect in January.
Tilly Robinson is a Pulliam fellow for the Indianapolis Star. She can be reached at tilly.robinson@indystar.com.
Indiana
College sports wants Congress’ help. Why Indiana Sen. Todd Young voted against bill
The Protect College Sports Act, legislation meant to introduce and codify sweeping reforms related to college athletics, passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday morning.
It now heads to the Senate floor.
The bill passed out of committee by a 19-9 vote. Indiana Republican Sen. Todd Young voted no, his decision reflecting Big Ten concerns over the bill.
A spokesman for Sen. Young told IndyStar, “Senator Young hopes that additional changes can be made to the bill to address concerns raised by the Big Ten.”
Co-sponsored by Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), the Protect College Sports Act represents Congress’ most substantial success so far in a yearslong effort to bring legislative reform to college athletics. Since before the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders in college sports — including the NCAA, member conferences and schools, and other major players — have lobbied for national solutions to what have become state and regional problems.
Several pieces of legislation have been introduced across the last several years, only to fizzle long before reaching the floor of either chamber. The SCORE Act, introduced last year in the House of Representatives, gained some traction and passed out of committee, but was never brought to the floor.
Which makes Thursday’s news meaningful. Moving the Protect College Sports Act to the Senate floor, while not a guarantee of any outcome, potentially takes the bill past a threshold no other such piece of reformative legislation has yet been able to cross.
Cruz told Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger on Thursday that Cruz believes Sen. Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is committed to introducing the bill to the Senate floor soon.
The bill provides a legal framework for a host of potential reforms and protections for college sports. It grants limited antitrust protection to the NCAA, places limits on certain things including potential conference realignment, builds safeguards meant to protect non-revenue and Olympic sports, addresses potential broadcast rights reforms, and more.
It enjoys significant backing, and not just among leaders in college sports. This week, the NFL, its players’ association, the National Basketball Players Association and Major League Baseball all voiced their support for the bill.
Two key constituencies not in lockstep on the bill voiced their own concerns Thursday.
In a joint statement issued just after 10 a.m. Thursday, the Big Ten and SEC — far and away the two most powerful conferences and arguably two greatest power centers, full stop, in college athletics — suggested they still hold significant reservations over the bill.
“From the outset, we identified a set of essential revisions to the PCSA necessary for the long-term sustainability of college athletics,” the statement read. “We have worked with both majority and minority staff to advance those revisions, which focus on better supporting student-athletes and stabilizing the college sports environment. We continue to believe revisions are needed to secure our support for the bill.
“Despite our sustained engagement and good faith efforts, these critical revisions have not been accepted.”
The statement went on to note the “several Commerce Committee members that share our concerns and support these recommendations.”
Young is one of several members of the committee representing a Big Ten state, including one of three Republicans. He is the only Republican member of the committee whose state contains multiple schools in the conference.
Allowing for those reservations, Thursday’s news is still significant. It marks the first time a bipartisan bill on the subject has reached this point in the Senate and, should it be brought to the floor, it would be the first such legislation to reach that stage, in either chamber.
The bill could be brought to the Senate floor as early as July, though that timeline remains fluid.
-
Fitness1 minute agoWhy this unexpected exercise is most effective for building arm muscle in your 50s – and how to do it properly
-
Movie Reviews9 minutes agoThe Beautifully Handcrafted Rose of Nevada Is a Ghost Story Like No Other
-
World19 minutes agoOn the South Lawn, a UFC fighter’s victory frames an unusual White House scene
-
Politics31 minutes agoVideo: Demining the Strait of Hormuz
-
Health46 minutes agoVideo: Wii Bowling Takes Over Tulsa Retirement Homes
-
Lifestyle1 hour ago
This Pride month, teen flicks are recasting familiar tropes with a queer sensibility
-
Technology1 hour agoNASA selects Eric Schmidt’s rocket company for a 2028 mission to Mars
-
World1 hour agoBritish Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces potential leadership challenge from newly-elected Andy Burnham