Metro Detroit Home Sale Prices Jump 5% in August

1245

Home sale prices jumped more than 5 percent in metro Detroit in August to $161,000, while home sales rose more than 7 percent, says the latest monthly report from Realcomp II in Farmington Hills.

“We knew that the sales were looking steady because we looked at the pending sales and saw those numbers were still pretty high so they would be closing soon, so that part wasn’t as much a surprise as much as those prices were,” says Karen Kage, CEO of the multiple listing service. “That was pretty impressive.”

In Oakland County, median sale prices rose nearly 2 percent to $209,000, while home sales rose more than 7 percent to nearly 2,000 sales.

Macomb County saw home sale prices rise nearly 6 percent to $138,000. Home sales jumped 6.5 percent to about 1,120 sales.

In Livingston County, the median home sale price was about $223,000, up more than 6 percent. Home sales rose more than 17 percent to nearly 400 sales.

Inventory remained steady in metro Detroit, up less than 2 percent. Inventory in the Detroit area (defined as the city of Detroit, as well as Hamtramck, Harper Woods, and Highland Park) dropped nearly 6 percent to about 2,500 units. Home sales in the area dropped more than 5 percent.

“We’re still feeling the effects in the Detroit area of those really big numbers we had when the foreclosures were on the market and we were just getting ridiculous sales,” Kage says. “That probably should start evening itself out soon.”

Kage says August home sales report is good news for sellers.

“I think that we’re seeing those prices continue to rise because there’s just more people looking to buy now,” Kage says.

She says she expects home sales to slow down in September, although it could be unpredictable due to volatility in the stock market.

“Even if the number of sales slow down compared to August, I don’t think we’re going to see a slow down compared to last year,” Kage says.