I’m often asked how the real estate market is doing? The many people who ask this question already have a sadness in their eyes anticipating the worst with my answer. Yet my response is, “I sold the most homes ever in 2010,” and these same people are shocked and elated to hear my answer.
They tell me that they had no idea because the television and newspaper headlines say the opposite. It’s frustrating to hear this common sentiment over and over again. I find myself being forced to educate the public on our real estate market.
By the way, I’m not the only realtor who’s had their best year ever.
Many realtors in Washtenaw County also had their best year ever in 2010, which begs the question why more people don’t know more about it. Thank goodness our local real estate market fairs better than national market statistics.
According to the Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors, 90 more houses sold in 2010 (3,117) than in 2009 (3,027). In addition, the average sale price was up $184,217 in 2010 from $182,287 in 2009 and 33 percent of homes sold at their list price or higher.
The Ann Arbor economy is the driving force behind our real estate market in Washtenaw County. Take away the Ann Arbor economy and we’d be in a perilous position like so many other counties in our state. The Dexter, Chelsea, Saline and Manchester real estate markets are directly tied to the Ann Arbor economy. It’s this reason why I believe Washtenaw County has the strongest real estate market in the entire state.
That doesn’t mean we haven’t dealt with our share of the declining market over the last four years. I can cite example after example of devastated families who succumbed to short sale situations and even foreclosure. The exodus of Pfizer in Ann Arbor in 2006 was devastating to our economy due to the sheer numbers of people leaving the area. They also flooded the market with a surplus of homes forcing the prices down.
We have weathered that horrible storm and now find ourselves in a growing economy. We’ve actually seen an increase in the average sale price of homes — the first time since 2006.
This is great news!
But too few home owners know this. We’re aware of this because there are so few homes on the real estate market. We’ve had the lowest number of homes on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) since I can remember. To be more specific, there were 17,720 homes for sale in 2006. But, there were only 7,893 homes for sale in 2010.
There are many buyers who are actively complaining about the lack of homes to choose from on the MLS. Buyers are frustrated and want to buy a house of their choosing. But, sellers believe that the market isn’t sustainable right now and are too afraid to put their home on the market.
It’s also true that some sellers are waiting for the market to significantly improve before they list their home. We need sellers to put their home on the market so these buyers can help boost our economy even faster. So, if you’re a seller contemplating whether or not to put your home on the market. Give me or your favorite realtor a call. We’ll show you the statistics and you can make your decision from there.
For more information on local housing statistics, visit the Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors Web site and click on the “resources” icon.
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