The inventory of available Howell homes is at a low for the year at 198 units. Even though we had 18 new listings in the last 7 days, 20 were sold in the same period, and when you count in expired listings and those pended (taken off market pending the sale), we're at a net loss.
For the 20 sold properties, the average days on market was 45 - a quick time period. But the median time on market was a blistering 18 days! Buyers - don't hesitate when you find something you like, I want to throw in a pitch for LOCAL, full-time agents, too. We know the little nuances of our market in ways that you can't decipher from looking at multilist statistics. Plus, we can react faster and get you into a home quicker than an out of area agent.
The average and median sales prices were very close, right around $200,000, and the price per square foot is within what we normally see for the Howell market, $100-$125/sq ft.
Sellers - if you've been waiting for warmth and sunshine but are able to list now you'll be doing yourselves a favor. There is high demand and low inventory. That will likely change by the beginning of May. More competition usually gets you top price and the quickest sales.
If you're interested in the 18 new listings you can download a copy of them here, along with this week's analysis. You can also watch my video report here.
We're seeing it more and more. In the newspapers, local news broadcasts, hearing it on the radio. As an example, today's Detroit Free Press has an article titled, "Michigan
home prices rose 9% in January vs. 2014." And here in Livingston
County, we've been outperforming most other SE Michigan geographical
areas. What does it all mean, though?
Well, first, things are looking up. But temper that with some reality.
The same article notes that our home prices are still 17.3% off their
peak from 2005. Yes, we have more new construction, and at least here
in Livingston County, it's still a seller's market if your home is under
$350,000 in value. But what does that mean, exactly?
In
the real estate industry, we consider the supply of homes under 6
months inventory to be a seller's market, over a buyer's market. Six
months is a 'balanced' market. We get those figures by taking the
average number of sales over the last 12 months and dividing it into the
current inventory. If 600 homes have sold in the last 12 months,
600/12 = 50 per month. Let's say the inventory is 300 homes. 300 homes
on market/50 sales per month average = a 6 month supply, or a balanced market. We can break this down by price ranges, municipal areas and the like.
Even
if you're area and price range are in a seller's market status, that
doesn't mean you can go crazy with the price. Generally speaking, if
you overprice by as little as 3% it will affect the number of showings
you get. Just 5% over priced may be the difference between a few
showings and no showings. How does that happen?
Education.
Buyers are constantly looking at homes on the internet. All of the
listings come from the local MLS, but different sites (called portals by
some) have better search features or education articles. Buyers have
an almost intuitive feel for when a property is overpriced because
they've been looking at every 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch between 1600-2000
sq ft in the area they like for months. Try asking $250,000 for a home that others sell for $220,000 and you'll be waiting for a while.
So,
yes, things are improving and the news is mostly good in comparison to
where we've been. But you still need a competent professional to assist
you with your sale or purchase. Remember that a real estate
transaction is one of the biggest you will make in your life. Trust a
full-time real estate professional.
image courtesy of ddpavumba/freedigitalphotos.net
