According to the RE/MAX of Southeastern Michigan December 2021 Housing Report, the region’s housing market ended the year with a dip in month-over-month sales prices and sales both month-over-month and year-over-year.
For sales, there were 3,550 homes sold in December — a 13.1 percent drop from December 2020 (4,086), and a smaller drop from November 2021 (3,707).
At the same time, sales prices are up 12.1 percent year-over-year — from $235,750 to $264,375 — but saw a slight drop from the November 2021 median of $272,250.
“The drop in home prices is welcome news for buyers and signals some of the normal seasonality we see in the market at this time of the year,” says Jeanette Schneider, president of Troy’s RE/MAX of Southeastern Michigan. “We are riding a strong market into the new year with many buyers active in the market now looking to secure a home before facing more competition in spring.
“Home inventory will remain a challenge and interest rates are anticipated to move up, but even with these dynamics we are optimistic that 2022 will be another strong year for home sales.”
Regarding inventory, the report shows a 1.4 months’ supply of homes in December 2021; a 6-months’ supply being considered a balanced market. This is down insignificantly both month-over-month and year-over-year from 1.5 months’ supply in both cases. Pending sales also were stagnant year-over-year — from 2,809 to 2,819, or 0.4 percent — buy saw a drop from 3,589 month-over-month.
The average days on market dropped one day year-over-year, from 34 days to 33 days. Month-over-month, however, the drop flips to a 5 day jump from an average of 28 days in November.
County-specific home sale data showed Oakland County took the biggest hit year-over-year, dropping from 1,571 to 1,253 (20.2 percent). Livingston County dropped from 216 to 180 (16.7 percent) and the city of Detroit dropped from 392 to 335 (14.5 percent). Wayne and Macomb counties stayed under a 10 percent drop, from 1,648 to 1,498 (9.1 percent) and 651 to 619 (4.9 percent) respectively.
The median sales price jumped more than 10 percent across the board. The city of Detroit led the way, going from $70,000 to $80,000 (14.3 percent) and Livingston County was a close second — $300,000 to $342,500 (14.2 percent).
Macomb County went from $200,000 to $225,000 (12.5 percent) and Wayne County jumped to $170,000 from $153,000 (11.1 percent). Oakland is at the bottom of this category, going from $290,000 to $320,000 (10.3 percent).
Homes in Detroit saw the largest drop in days spent on market, going from 54 days to 39 (28 percent). Wayne and Oakland counties also saw drops, from 36 to 31 (14.8 percent) and 37 to 35 (6 percent), respectively. Livingston and Macomb counties both saw homes sit for longer, jumping from 30 to 32 (6.2 percent) and 32 to 34 (5.7 percent), respectively.
