Metro Detroit Home Sales Slow in July, Prices Rise

RE/MAX of Southeastern Michigan in Troy released its July 2021 regional housing report, which showed a decline in home sales while prices rose, with metro Detroit seeing the fourth biggest drop in home sales in the U.S., according to RE/MAX’s national housing report.
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Beautiful large luxury home exterior on bright sunny day with blue sky. Features three car garage, turret, and elegant design
The July 2021 RE/MAX of Southeastern Michigan housing report showed prices rising and sales falling. // Stock Photo

RE/MAX of Southeastern Michigan in Troy released its July 2021 regional housing report, which showed a decline in home sales while prices rose, with metro Detroit seeing the fourth biggest drop in home sales in the U.S., according to RE/MAX’s national housing report.

Although the supply of homes on the market increased slightly from June, going from 1.1 months’ supply to 1.4, it is still a far cry from 6 months, which is considered a balanced supply.

This issue, among others, caused home sales to drop from 4,895 sales last July to 3,991 this July — an 18.5 percent decrease. A smaller drop was incurred from last month, dropping from 4,141 sales in June.

“July’s year-over-year home sales numbers are a bit skewed from the pandemic and the unusually high amount of closings that occurred last year,” says Jeanette Schneider, president of RE/MAX of Southeastern Michigan.

“The market favors sellers, but buyers remain the force driving the market and homes continue to sell at a quick pace. Many buyers are a bit more judicious in what homes they schedule to see, when they put in an offer and what their offer entails, but overall demand from buyers is still strong.”

The average numbers of days homes in the area spend on the market sits just below the national average of 23 days, with homes going from listing to signed contract in around 20 days. This is a 14 day drop from last July, and a one day increase from last month.

The 18.5 percent decrease in home sales was led by Livingston and Oakland counties, with a 24.6 percent and 20.4 percent drop, respectively. Wayne County and the city of Detroit each saw drops of over 10 percent, with 18.7 percent and 14.1 percent, respectively. Macomb County saw the smallest drop-off at 9.4 percent.

All of the counties and Detroit saw at least a 15 percent year-over-year increase in the median home price. Detroit went from $48,001 to $65,900, a 37.3 percent jump. Oakland’s increase was the second largest, going from $282,000 to $350,000, with Livingston close behind, moving up 21.6 percent from $300,000 to $364,900.

Macomb’s increase went from $210,000 to $250,000 — or 19 percent. Wayne County rounds out the segment with an 18.8 percent increase, from $160,000 to $190,000.

The only county that didn’t see at least a 40 percent drop in days on market was Wayne, dropping from 37 days to 22 days — or 39.4 percent. Macomb County dropped from 28 days to 15, and the city of Detroit from 66 days to 37 — a 45.2 percent and 44 percent drop, respectively. Oakland County dropped 43.3 percent from 32 days to 18 days, while Livingston dropped from 39 days to 23 days — or 40.3 percent.

Although southeastern Michigan’s trends match the directions of national trends, the magnitude of home sale drops and median sales price skew higher than the national average —a 3.1 percent drop and an increase 16.2 percent to $331,000. National days on market trends saw a year over year decrease of 21 days, down to 23, and a 1.3-month supply.