The latest data from the Indiana Association of Realtors shows March saw homebuying activity heating up across the state.

That suggests the market continues to recover from a deepening decline over the second half of last year. Statewide home sales fell just 1 percent shy of March of last year.

Both existing home sales and new listings increased more than 30 percent from February, though sales increased at a faster pace – the median days on market from listing to pending contract dropped a full week from 23 days to 16. The trend took a toll on total inventory, though, which dipped below 10,000 active listings across Indiana’s eight M.L.S. markets.

Considering 30-year mortgage rates averaged around 4.25% last March compared to 6.5% last month, the latest numbers show healthy demand in Indiana’s housing market.

Most realtors continue to see their biggest challenge as a limited supply of homes for sale – especially with most current homeowners locked into low-rate loans causing them to think twice about selling despite property values continuing to increase.