Realcomp report: Metro Detroit home sales increased 19.3 percent last year
The number of residential real estate sales increased last year compared with 2008 in Oakland, Wayne, Macomb and Livingston counties.
However, if foreclosure sales are taken out of the calculation, the number of sales decreased.
The median price for non-foreclosure sales showed a strong increase toward the end of the year but it still ended lower than 2008, according to year-end figures released by the Farmington Hills-based MLS Realcomp II Ltd.
“What we saw is that the consumers are showing some confidence in the local economy, enough confidence to actually go out and buy a home,” said Doug Hardy, president of Century 21 Today Inc., chairman of the Birmingham office of SKBK Sotheby’s International Inc. and president of Realcomp.
The total number of units sold in foreclosure and non-foreclosure sales in Oakland, Wayne, Macomb and Livingston counties showed a combined increase of 19.3 percent to 55,100 in 2009 compared to 46,200 in 2008.
However, that figure was held up by foreclosure sales.
Units sold in non-foreclosure sales decreased year-over-year with a total of 21,900 in the four counties, compared to 24,300 in 2008.
Likewise, the median sale price for non-foreclosure sales decreased in the four counties compared to 2008.
The average median sale price for 2009 decreased by 13.2 percent in Oakland County from $173,600 in 2008 to $150,700 in 2009.
In Wayne County, sale prices decreased by 1.1 percent to $85,900 in 2009 from $84,900 in 2008. Prices decreased by 15 percent in Macomb County to $110,400 in 2009 from $130,000 in 2008. And Livingston County showed a 14.1-percent decrease to $158,100 from $184,000 in 2008.
The only price increase was in the city of Detroit, with a 32 percent year-over-year increase to $15,400 from $11,600 in 2008.
One bright spot is that the number of non-foreclosure sales showed a dramatic increase compared to the same month in 2008 toward the end of the year.
For the four counties combined, there was a 23.3-percent increase in non-foreclosure unit sales in October, compared to 2008, followed by 63.2 and 63.3-percent increases in November and December.
Hardy said it is not typical to have increases toward the end of the year, and he attributed the increase to the new homebuyer tax credit — which had been scheduled to end in 2009, but was later extended — along with low interest rates and great value for homes.
“There’s probably no better time to buy a home when you consider the interest rates and the home prices,” he said.
