If investors and homeowners are looking for good news in an otherwise challenging year, here’s something to consider: For the first time since COVID-19 impacted the housing market, year-over-year home sales are up in metro Detroit.
This finding is according to the latest Housing Report from RE/MAX of Southeastern Michigan, which shows year-over-year home sales are up 2.4% over last year. The July RE/MAX of Southeastern Michigan Housing Report highlights local market trends and national indicators of how home buyers and sellers are doing during the pandemic and beyond.
In Southeast Michigan, some 5,015 homes sold in July compared to 3,370 home in June. That number is up from July 2019 when 4,896 homes were sound, RE/MAX of Southeastern Michigan said in its monthly report.
“July saw robust activity fueled by strong buyer demand and the continuation of a limited supply of homes,” said Jeanette Schneider, executive vice president of RE/MAX of Southeastern Michigan, in the report.
“Due to Covid, our spring activity was pushed together with summer buyers leading to a very active July,” Schneider added. “Home buyers are taking advantage of near record-low mortgage rates and are ready to make an offer when they find a home they like. Pending sales are up by almost 30% and new listings are down making it likely buyers will continue to see strong competition for the foreseeable future.”
Additional findings include:
• Home sale prices in metro Detroit are up 9.1 percent over last year. It went from $226,875 in July 2019 to $247,438 in July 2020.
• Oakland County saw the largest jump in year-over-year home sales at 6.8 percent.
• Wayne County saw the largest jump in home prices at 17.2 percent.
Days on market, or the number of days from the home’s listing to its signed contract of sales, was up seven days from 27 in July 2019 to 34 days in July 2020. Supply was at 2.2 months in July compared to 3.4 months in July 2019. A supply of six months is considered balanced, RE/MAX of Southeastern Michigan said.
Nationally, home sales are up 8.7% year over year based on data from 54 metro areas, RE/MAX said. Median sales price was $284,819 or up 8.6% year over year. Days on market is 44 or an increase of one day from last year. And the months’ supply of inventory was 1.7 months.
