Snowiest January ever; but, was it the slowest for real estate?

Well, it’s official; January, 2014, was the snowiest January EVER recorded in modern weather record keeping. It felt that way and it was. It also felt like it was going to be the slowest month for home sales for my little real estate patch; but was it? I keep track of sales in Milford, Highland, Commerce, White Lake, West Bloomfield, Lyon, Brighton Green Oak and Hartland Townships (and the cities and Villages therein). I’ve been doing that for years and keep all of the back records, so that I can look back.

In January of 2012, 159 houses sold in the markets that I track. In 2013, that number had increased to 212 sales, based upon the recovery of the economy.  In 2014, the January sales totaled only 117, a drop of 45% vs. 2013, but more on par with 2012. So, maybe it really wasn’t the slowest January ever; it just felt like it. It must have been the polar vortex swirling around outside. When I found the old records for 2011, it confirmed that things were actually about the same as 2014 back then, n terms of the number of sale. Al lof the other stats have moved up. I wasn’t tracking the same markets back then, but the ones that I was tracking are shown back to 2011 below. You can actually go back in the data as far as 2008 for those markets.

In 2014 some uncertainty has returned about the economy and the mortgage rates have crept up slightly, with mortgages now harder to get. Those factors combined with a very limited supply of homes for sale, the result as much as anything by uncertainty about the future; caused people to continue to hunker down in their current homes. Home prices have continued to rise, fueled by that tight inventory; but, overall sales have fallen. It is clear from the rising cost per Square Foot in all of the markets that the days of great bargains are over. In part, that is caused by the fact that the percentage of distressed sales – those that are foreclosures or short sales – has fallen below 10% in every market; from a high during the depth of the recession of over 50% in most markets.  

Here are the other statistics that I keep for some of those markets:

Milford (Includes Twp. and Village) – Sold in 2014 – 10, Sold in 2013 -19 , Sold in 2012 – 10, Sold in 2011 – 12 (with 82% distressed sales)

2014 Ave. Sold Value - $283,760 , Ave. Sold Cost per Sq Ft -$131 
2014 Med. Sold Value - $289,500 , Med. Cost per Sq Ft. - $134 

2013 Ave. Sold Value - $183,206 , Ave. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $96
2013 Med. Sold Value - $120,176 , Med. Cost per Sq Ft - $88

2012 Ave. Sold Value - $237,003 , Ave. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $100
2012 Med. Sold Value - $251,570 , Med. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $103

2011 Ave. Sold Value - $180,115, Ave. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $77

2011 Med. Sold Value - $200,000, Med. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $69

Highland Twp. – Sold in 2014 - 10, Sold in 2013 - 16 , Sold in 2012 – 12, Sold in 2011 – 16 (with 73% distressed sales)

2014 Ave. Sold Value - $220,277, Ave. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $106

2014 Med. Sold Value - $252,000, Med. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $117

2013 Ave. Sold Value - $202,644, Ave. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $94

2013 Med. Sold Value - $194,950, Med. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $97

2012 Ave. Sold Value - $146,229, Ave Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $78

2012 Med. Sold Value - $122,000, Med. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $75

2011 Ave. Sold Value - $122,035, Ave. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $68

2011 Med. Sold Value - $86,350, Med. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $64

Commerce Twp. (Includes Walled Lake and Wolverine Lake) – Sold in 2014 – 21, Sold in 2013 – 41, Sold in 2012 – 24, sold in 2011 – 47 (with 50% distressed sales)

2014 Ave. Sold Value - $195,299, Ave. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $106

2014 Med. Sole Value - $176,500, Med. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $116

2013 Ave. Sold Value - $152,843, Ave. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $89

2013 Med. Sold Value - $145,000, Med. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $88

2012 Ave. Sold Value - $165,396, Ave. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $91

2012 Med. Sold Value - $124,250, Med. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $75

2011 Ave. Sold Value - $193,019, Ave Sold Cost per SQ Ft - $87

2011 Med. Sold Value - $180,000, Med. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $81

White Lake Twp. – Sold in 2014 – 17, Sold in 2013 – 17, Sold in 2012 – 14, Sold in 2011 – 27 (with 62% distressed sales)

2014 Ave. Sold Value - $182,210, Ave. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $99

2014 Med. Sold Value - $129,085, Med. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $87

2013 Ave. Sold Value - $173,059, Ave. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $84

2013 Med. Sold Value - $176,000, Med. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $97

2012 Ave. Sold Value - $168,409, Ave. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $83

2012 Med. Sold Value - $154,000, Med. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $87

2011 Ave. Sold Value - $134,959, Ave. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $69

2011 Med. Sold Value - $137,000, Med. Sold Cost per Sq Ft - $73

To see all of the stats, please visit my web site www.movetomilford.com and choose What has sold locally.