The winter months are rarely popular for Michigan’s real estate market, and with the recent snow, ice, and rain making its impact, the start of the 2020 housing market is off to a cold start. However, that doesn’t mean all real estate activity is slowing down and Michiganders should expect an uptick in activity in just a few short months.
We
will begin this real estate update looking at Michigan’s southeastern
region, specifically the counties of Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, St.
Clair, Washtenaw, and Wayne. Out of these six counties, the only one to
see an increase in year-to-date new listings was Wayne, which saw a 1.7%
uptick from 1,919 to 1,952. The county with the largest decrease in new
listings was Livingston, which saw a 11.8% decline from 254 to 224.
Homes in Michigan’s southeastern corridor are receiving between 95% –
98% of list price, which tells us the market is still competitive. St.
Clair County had the largest year-to-date increase of 20.5% in closed
sales as well as the largest increase in median sales price, which went
up 12.6% from $141,950 to $159,900.
Now,
we will now look to the west side of our state, specifically the
counties of Ionia, Kent, and Montcalm. New listings and pending sales
have both increased in Ionia and Kent County. Ionia saw a year-to-date
increase of 12.5% in new listings from 48 to 54 and a 52.5% increase in
pending sales from 40 to 61. Kent saw an increase of 6.5% in new
listings from 659 to 691 and a 10.3% increase in pending sales from 500
to 662. Montcalm however saw a year-to-date decrease of 12% in new
listings though pending sales increased 10.6% from 47 to 52. Closed
sales in Ionia, Kent, and Montcalm saw an increase across the board, up
24% in Ionia, up 11.2% in Kent, and up 57.7% in Montcalm. The only
county of the three to see a decrease in median sales price was
Montcalm, which decreased 8% year-to-date. Expect prices to continue
rising as more homes are restored and inventory quality continues to
improve.
Finally,
we will be looking at Lansing’s tri-county region (Clinton, Eaton,
Ingham) starting with Clinton County, you’ll notice that the inventory,
new pendings and average sales price have decreased as the housing
market heads into the thick of the winter season. Year-to-date closed
sales in Clinton County have increased 33.3% from 35 to 49 and the
year-to-date median sales price has also increased from $185,000 to
$208,500, accounting for a 12.7% increase. Sellers are receiving up to
94% of asking prices, which is down 2.2% from last year, its expected
that appreciation rates will continue to slow, especially for upper-end
properties. For Eaton and Ingham County, new listings, pending sales,
and days on market have all increased year-over-year. New listings are
up 3% in Eaton and up 4.1% in Ingham. Pending sales are up 30% in Eaton
and up 7.5% in Ingham. Year-to-date closed sales have, however, dropped
slightly in Eaton County from 70 to 68, accounting for a 2.9% decrease.
Though, year-to-date closed sales for Ingham County have increased from
213 to 220, accounting for an increase of 3.3%. With the exception of a
few specialty markets in the tri-county region, expect values to
continue to settle with gradual increases in most markets.
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