Home prices are on the rise in metro Detroit, where the average single-family home or condominium in the region sold for $138,000 in May 2014, up 24.3 percent from the same time the year before. Additionally, for the first time in five years, market inventory has increased, according to Realcomp in Farmington Hills.
From the closely watched barometer of the spring market, there were 15,202 listings in metro Detroit last month, up .4 percent when compared to May 2013. Broken down, Macomb County saw a 3 percent increase in the number of on-market listings, Wayne County grew by 1.3 percent, while Oakland County showed a .5 percent year-over-year decrease.
“This is the lowest inventory that we’ve had in many years, but it’s finally coming up, albeit very slowly,” says Karen Kage, CEO of Realcomp, a multiple listing service. “But that’s OK — up is up. A lot of people want to sell their houses before school starts in the fall. That, and more people are feeling more confident that they’ll be able to get the pricing they have been wanting or needing.”
The report also shows that the average number of days a house stayed on market in May dropped from 69 to 49 in metro Detroit. “Short sales are also down, which is a good thing. I think it’s all really good news — it’s all coming up where it should, and coming down where it needs to,” Kage says.
