Be careful what you believe.
The home sales numbers for June are out – and Hooray! Sales of homes were UP last month in the metro area over June last year! And not just UP – but up almost 12%!
Let’s throw a parade a celebrate the bottom of the real estate market here in Metro Detroit!! The days of Mai-Tais and Yahtzee are back!Â
Not so fast.
Sure the numbers are up in the tri-county area – but they’re only up in Wayne County. Oakland and Macomb were down again. And more to the point, most of the increase in Wayne County came from the sale of extremely low-priced homes in the City of Detroit.
So – is this good news or bad news.
Well if your fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing – join the club.
Because I think that it’s actually both.
It’s bad news because it indicates a really soft market for standard “retail†type sales. Listings continue to pile up on the market, and the number of foreclosures in increasing. Homes are still selling in the suburbs, but at a slower rate.
On the other hand it’s good news in a couple of ways. First, it indicates that sellers of these homes in the city, after resisting for two years, are finally letting go and pricing to what the market will pay. And second, it shows that investor buying is increasing in Metro Detroit. This usually happens when investors believe that the market is near the bottom.
Personally, I believe that we’re near enough to the bottom such that it doesn’t matter, IF we don’t experience an implosion by any or all of our local automakers.
And although that’s a BIG if, we’ve had so little good news lately that we should appreciate it when we see some.
Dennis,
This is good news indeed for the Metro Detroit area. Bit of a dark cloud with silver linings, but good nonetheless. Big House Data will be releasing stats on the Washtenaw County housing market today and it will show that sales are up and listings are down: and that’s for everyone of the first six months of 2008!
Bottom? I’d but that for a dollar! We’re darn close…..
Dennis,
We’re in agreement here. It’s both good and bad news. Foreclosed homes at give-away prices dominate the market now, leaving fewer buyers for the typical re-sale. At least the investors are showing us a “floor” for pricing – which may not be all that good in the long run. Time will tell.