Grosse Pointe Housing Market Remains Robust

  What is my home worth?  Its a simple question, and one that is probably often running through your mind.  After all, home ownership has traditionally been one of the biggest keys to building overall wealth.    Over the past 5-6 years, it has probably been one of the biggest factors leading to an ulcer. 

  The housing market was supposed to be different than the stock market.  Just slowly continuing an upward trend.  No breathtaking ups and downs.  We quickly learned that even the housing market has its ups and downs.  What hasn't changed, is that owning your own home is still one of the best ways to build overall net worth.  It still a very good financial decision to purchase a home. 

   The real estate market in the five Grosse Pointes continues to be stable if not robust.  Currently there are 209 single family homes on the market in the five Pointes. This number does not include any pending sales, or any homes that are under contract and awaiting short sale approval.   This is a significantly low amount of inventory. Another positive sign is that 33% of our market is a pending sale, meaning under contract.    As I have mentioned before in this blog, during our darker days several years back, we had over 800 homes on the market with less than 10% of the market pending.    

  There are some people who love stat after stat, and others who really get bored quickly with this data, but I thought I would share a couple of other noteworthy statistics.  Between January 1, 2011 and October 8, 2011 there were 419 homes  sold in the five Grosse Pointes.  Between January 1, 2012 and October 8, 2012 there were 553.  A significant jump, and an indicator of a healthy stable market.  Now the next question is always price.  Although I believe overall that prices have gone up about 8-10% this year, I don't have the data to support this statement.  It is hard to generalize that, and it really differs depending on what price range you are looking at.  What I do have the data to support is that the average sale price in the five Grosse Pointes from January 2011-September 2011 was $182,456.  The average sale price from January 2012-September 2012 was $213,445.  Forget all the numbers.  All you need to know is that more homes are selling at higher prices.

    I know there are still people out there waiting to sell their home.  There is much less competition right now than we have seen in quite some time.  Its a very good time to get your home on the market.  One thing we hear from people is that they do not want their home on the market during the holiday season.  As it turns out, its often one of the best times of year to sell.  Your house looks its best decorated for the holidays, and there is less competition.  Now is the time, especially if you are looking to upgrade.  If you have any questions, or are unsure how to get sell a home with negative equity, contact your local Grosse Pointe Board of Realtors Member.  We have the tools and connections to help in almost any situation.