May seems to be off to a slow start…

I know that this is only an anecdotal observation, but May seems to be off to a very slow start this year, so far as home sales go. That could well be attributed to the terrible (and at times cold) rainy weather that we’ve had. It certainly hasn’t been all that good for open houses so far this month.

For six of the nine markets that I track this year I have multiyear data, which at least lets me look back at a fairly gross level at year-to-year comparisons.

We are half way through May, 2011 and this is how those markets compare to May 2010, in terms of sales:

Milford –

Homes sold far in May 2011 – 3

Homes sold in all of May in 2010 – 18

Highland –

Homes sold far in May 2011 – 9

Homes sold in all of May in 2010 – 19

Commerce –

Homes sold far in May 2011 – 20

Homes sold in all of May in 2010 – 46

White Lake –

Homes sold far in May 2011 – 13

Homes sold in all of May in 2010 – 36

Lyon/South Lyon –

Homes sold far in May 2011 – 4

Homes sold in all of May in 2010 – 28

Brighton –

Homes sold far in May 2011 – 12

Homes sold in all of May in 2010 – 18

The numbers would seem to indicate that Commerce and Highland are on about the same track as last year with Brighton actually ahead of the pace of 2010. My home market of Milford, along with Lyon/South Lyon and White Lake are lagging the 2010 pace for home ales in May right now.

Some of this might be attributed to the lower inventory levels this year and the temporary slowdown in foreclosure sales as the industry tries to sort out the MERS mess in our state. MERS is the holding company created by the banks to provide a holding company (some would say dumping ground) for their bad loans. MERS was the entity that foreclosed on many people and now the Michigan Appeals Court has ruled that it did not have standing to initiate those foreclosures, so it nullified them. Chaos has ensued has lenders and buyer alike scramble to figure out if the foreclosures that MERS was involved with will have to be redone. The Appeals Court decision is being appealed.

So whether it’s the weather or confusion over foreclosures, something seems to be holding back the market a bit here in the start of what should be our best selling season.