Foreclosures spur home sales in metro Detroit
Median sales prices plummet
Foreclosures continued to dominate area single-family home and condominium sales in February, pushing total sales up 16.5% and crushing median sales prices, according to new figures released Monday.
It's a familiar story in the metro Detroit housing market, where median sales prices plummeted 49.4% to $43,000 in February.
Realcomp, a multiple listing service in Farmington Hills, reported that 4,182 homes and condos sold during February in metro Detroit, up from 3,591 sold in February 2008.
Of the 4,182 sales, 56%, or 2,353, were foreclosures, according to Realcomp. Realcomp compiles sales figures reported by Realtor members in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Livingston counties and parts of St. Clair County.
Median sales prices were down 42.6% in Detroit to $5,737; down 23.3% in Livingston County to $172,000; down 44.6% in Macomb County to $115,000; down 46% in Oakland County to $144,000; down 32% in St. Clair area to $97,000, and down 43.9% in Wayne County to $28,500.
The downward trajectory of prices has Reginald Perryman, president of the Detroit Association of Realtors, hoping we're at the bottom of the curve with an uptick just around the corner.
"Actually, it is at the bottom," Perryman said. "What we are seeing is multiple offers on these properties. And the days on the market for those properties are a lot shorter."
Realcomp said the average days a metro Detroit property is on the market has declined by nearly three weeks to 103 days from 121 days.
And while investors have accounted for a lot of the activity in Detroit, Perryman said more owner-occupants are buying now. "They are paying cash so they can live in a house with no debt. The low prices make it possible," he said.
Pending sales for the metro area were up 24.8% in February to 6,670 from 5,343 in February 2008. And inventory has fallen 22.3% to 52,361 houses and condos on the market from 67,405 a year ago.Contact GRETA GUEST at gguest@freepress.com.
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