Howell Weekly Update November 30 2015

I've been doing weekly updates for the Howell Michigan real estate market for the last month. Here's this last week's activity recap.

Inventory is at 309 homes and condos, down slightly from last week.  We've had 6 new listings in the last 7 days and those listings average out to $198,966 each, or $95/sq ft.  That's a lower number than I usually see.  Most resale properties in Howell average between $100-$122/sq ft.

New construction would be a bit more expensive, of course.

There are currently 21 rental properties on the market, too.  The majority fall into the $1000-$1600/mo range and you can expect at least a 6 month lease requirement, with some wanting a 12 month commitment.  Please note that this does not include apartments, which typically do their own marketing and management, and it does not include some landlords that wish to market on their own.  You may find their properties in Craigslist or some rental property websites.

If you have questions about the Howell real estate market, feel free to contact me at your convenience.  If you're a first-time buyer (or just haven't purchased a property for a while), I have a great manual that I can share with you when you meet with me or we can go through it online.

image courtesy Robert Smith

Lakeshore Pointe Howell Real Estate Update November 2015

Back in August I did a short market report on the Lakeshore Pointe community in Howell.  This is a great community of about 248 homes in a fantastic location.   There are some lakefront homes, most are not, but all have lake access. The community has resident-only waterfront parks, picnic areas, walking trails and two marinas on all sport Thompson Lake.  There is no through traffic and the occasional speed bump on the private roads keeps things quiet.

The Homeowner's Association (HOA) does have architectural/aesthetic, vehicle storage, and landscaping guidelines and is professionally managed by a local property management company. Some people chafe at such restrictions, but generally they will help to keep the property values up by keeping a clean and consistent look throughout the community.

There are currently 5 active listings ranging from $215,000 to $515,000, two of which are larger lakefront homes. In the last 12 months, 14 homes have sold for an average of 98% of their list price.  This equates to less than a 6% turnover rate for the neighborhood, making it a stable community.

If you're thinking about selling in Lakeshore Pointe, or in the larger Howell area, call me for a detailed analysis of your neighborhood's prices and marketability.

Photo credit: Robert Smith, copyright 2015

October 2015 Realtors Confidence Index

Each month the National Association of Realtors (NAR) surveys real estate professionals nationwide to get their impression of the housing market.  This report had 2,969 Realtors reply.  As a survey participant, I get a ‘sneak peek’ at the results which will be released soon.

Overall, real estate professionals reported that the market was improved compared to a year ago and that they are “broadly optimistic” for the next six months.   There is stronger buyer and seller traffic compared to a year ago and it is expected that prices will increase “modestly” in the next 12 months.

Nationally, first-time buyers accounted for 31 percent of all sales, sales for investment purposes were 13 percent, distressed sales were 6 percent and cash sales were 24 percent of all sales.

Buyers 34 and under accounted for 28 percent of home sales and nearly half of the buyers were 35-55 years old.  No surprise here, but buyers 56 and older were more likely to purchase a condo while the younger buyers preferred a single-family detached home.

Financing and appraisals are still issues. Only 64 percent of sales were settled on time as reported by survey respondents, 29 percent experienced delays, and 7 percent were terminated.  We should have a better idea of how the new financing guidelines will affect the market over the next two months or so.

Biggest issues to getting closed (delayed but eventually closed)?  18 percent financing, 13 percent inspection issues, 11 percent appraisal issues.  For the 7 percent of sales that did not complete, 32 percent were due to inspection issues and 46 percent due to financing.

Remembering that all real estate is essentially local, this information gives a great general outlook, but you need to be educated in your local market, too.  I just posted a report for the Howell Michigan area, you can watch it here.  If you have questions about the local housing market, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. My contact info is on the right bar of this blog post.

Image courtesy of keerati/freedigitalphotos.net

US-23 Active Traffic Management System (ATM)

Last evening, I stopped at the Northfield Township Hall in Whitmore Lake to visit the Michigan

Department of Transportation (MDOT) open house regarding the US-23 Active Traffic Management (ATM) plan.

If you've ever driven the US-23 expressway to Ann Arbor in the morning rush hour, or tried to get back to Livingston County in the evening, you know what a pain it is.  Designed decades ago, it carries far too much traffic today.  Many entrance ramps are very short and interchanges don't work for today's traffic volume. There are an abundance of crashes due to slowing traffic near entrance and exit ramps.

There's not enough funding to do a major widening of this roadway, so the ATM system has been studied and judged to be feasible.  It will include extensions/upgrades of currently deficient ramps (most of them are!), factor in pedestrian and trail pathway access to local facilities, widening and/or reconstruction of existing bridges, the lane controllers, and courtesy patrols.  Part of last night's open house was to exhibit various natural landscape themes for the corridor.

Interestingly, there is also a commuter rail line effort that could help decrease commuter traffic on US-23 between I-96 on the north and M-14 on the south.  Officially called the North-South Commuter Rail, it  is often referred to as "WALLY", because it would serve Washtenaw and Livingston Counties, running from Howell to Ann Arbor.  I understand that one very expensive part of this effort, the actual rail track upgrades is done already.  As it is now, you would even be able to take your bike with you on the WALLY line, to use at your destination.  But WALLY is another blog post for another day.

There were a lot of MDOT folks at the open house and visitors were encouraged to 'vote' for the aesthetic treatments they thought would best fit the corridor.  Plenty of diagrams and overhead views were available, and I heard a number of attendees inquiring about noise control measures. I spoke to a MDOT representative that said this project would all be done in one piece and it was hoped to be completed by sometime in 2017.  Other states are using ATM systems, but this will be the first one in Michigan. 

One of the most noticeable features of the ATM is the use of a widened and upgraded left median shoulder to use for traffic.  Southbound US-23 would use this 'shoulder' for morning rush hour, northbound US-23 would use their 'shoulder' for the evening rush hour.  Large LED indicators would let motorists know that the lane was either open or closed.  Right side shoulders would still be present and could be used for motorists having vehicle troubles.  There will be set 'crash investigation' sites, too. 

Once you exit US-23, you will likely find reconfigured interchanges.  The Six Mile interchange will be re-worked for more logical ramp solutions.  At North Territorial and again at 8 Mile Rd, a combination of a roundabout and a new 'teardrop' (elongated roundabout) configuration will be used.  Bridges at Warren, Barker Rd and the CSX overpass (north of Lee Rd in Green oak Twp) will certainly be reworked, too.  If you're thinking this is a large project - you're right!

You'll be hearing more about this project, and if you commute to Ann Arbor, I suspect that things may temporarily get a little bit worse, but there's also the promise that it will make the commute less stressful and more efficient. There's a ton of background info available and I've included some links below.  Missing are the treatment options.

Washtenaw Area Transportation Study-http://www.miwats.org/watsblog/2015/1/21/us-23-project-update

MDOT US-23 Corridor Project -http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9621_11058-316825--,00.html

Wally Rail - https://www.facebook.com/WALLYRail/

image attributions: US-23 sign - State of Michigan MDOT; ATM graphic - Washtenaw Area Transportation Study blog; tear drop configuration - MDOT Appendix A, Traffic Analysis Data, US-23 Improvements document

Housing Market Update October 2015

Real estate is local.  That being said, there are things that happen nationally to affect all markets.  One of them is interest rates.

USA Today ran an article today that quoted San Franciso Federal Reserve President John Williams as saying there is a “very strong case” (their quotes) for rates to rise next month – if the economy continues to improve.

Earlier this year I had the occasion to hear, in person, the National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.  He went through a ton of stats and indicators that graphically showed how much the economy has improved.  But, he said, it seems that people just “don’t feel it.”  That was holding back home sales.  Question – do you feel it? 

I’ve kept that in mind and I ask that of people I meet occasionally.  Not a lot are feeling it.  They ‘see’ it – with new construction, with homes selling quickly, once vacant strip malls filling up again, lower unemployment figures – they just don’t personally ‘feel’ it.  But let’s get back to the Federal Reserve.

The Fed’s perspective seems to be that gradual rate increases beginning now lower the risk of a run up in inflation later.  They can always stop raising rates if the economy weakens.  Bob’s Prediction – look for up to a quarter point increase in December or January.

What is happening locally?

Rental demand remains high and rental rates continue to slowly increase. I think that will continue for the foreseeable future.  First-time buyers are not the force they once were. Perhaps because they ‘don’t feel it’ yet?  I don’t know, but there are not as many of them as there used to be.

We’ve seen cash buyers decrease, too.  Sure, a lot of them were investors buying lower priced properties but there were also some higher priced buyers paying cash for move-in condition homes.  As of the end of October 2015 for Livingston County, there were a total of 2828 sales. Only 219 were cash buyers (7.7%).

I fully expect home prices to continue their rise.  Part of that is with the lower price point inventory shortage. Everything I’ve been reading says our area should see at least 3%-5% appreciation in the next year. 

Locally, Howell, Brighton and the SE Livingston County area, homes under $250,000 will continue to sell very fast if they are priced correctly (within 2%-3% of their true value).  Sellers – trying to squeak that extra percent of two from a buyer could shoot you in the foot.  Buyers today are more educated than ever before.

Tighter lending standards have also had an effect, but if you’re 680 or better you should be able to get a loan.

 If you’re a first-time buyer, I can give you a short ‘buyer information’ course that will fill in a lot of blanks with the entire home buying process.  If you have a property to sell, please contact me for a complimentary home valuation and a tailored advertising/marketing discussion.  My information is on the sidebar of this blog.  I’m a full-time residential real estate professional and a Senior Real Estate Specialist. I work western Oakland, northern Washtenaw and all of Livingston County, especially Howell, Brighton, Hartland and Pinckney. 

image courtesy of atibodyphoto/freedigitalphotos.net

Closings Change – Starting To See It

There were a number of changes that went into effect October 3^rd, as part of the CFPB’s efforts to make sure we never have another meltdown like we had a few years back.

Some of these are great.  Sellers MUST get their closing statements for review 3 days before closing.  What?  No more statements at 2pm for a 4pm closing?  (Yay!!)

Also, one that will take a while to get used to is the term replacing ‘closing’.  That’s right, there will no longer be ‘closings’.  We will now have ‘consummations’, which sounds decidedly more, er, romantic.

Imagine my surprise when I saw a lender post this with a picture of himself and his new buyer on facebook:

Consumption of the sale is complete! Big congrats to Kyle on the purchase of his first home! 

Wow, the closing was, hmm, ‘used up’?  Or it got a case of tuberculosis. I hope not.

There’ll be plenty of little funnies like this for real estate pros in the next couple of months, I’m sure.  Let’s take the positive from these changes and not forget to smile.

courtesy of imagerymajestic/freedigitalphotos.net

Government Dashboards Keep Citizens Informed

The first governmental ‘dashboard’ I saw was that for the State of Michigan.  When Governor Rick Snyder took office in 2011, he was a businessman with no prior political experience, but a lot of leadership skills and business sense.  He referred to himself, and is still known as “one tough nerd.”  Among other things, he directed the use of a dashboard to give Michigan residents a way to check Michigan’s performance and progress quickly and visually.

But Governor Snyder and Michigan were not the first to use a government web site dashboard.  That was actually President Barack Obama.  In February 2009, just a month after his inauguration, the first dashboard went up to provide some transparency for the stimulus funds of that year’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  See the U.S.A. dashboard here. The current Michiganversion is more comprehensive than the original and actually there are now numerous dashboards for things like Education, Seniors, Health & Wellness, Financial Health, Safety, etc.

Since then, Livingston County has also established adashboard for residents, too.

This tool was used in business as far back as the 1980’s, although not the internet-type we see today.  Dashboards can provide great visuals that are easy to understand, but they are dependent on the use of quality, and often standardized data.  The concept has evolved since then and many sites offer the opportunity to download raw data in spreadsheet and other formats for further analysis.

If you’ve never seen a dashboard, it’s worth a quick look.  Links have been provided as appropriate throughout this article.

Images courtesy of State of Michigan