Ann Arbor real estate market posts stronger September
More home sales, more condo sales, more dollar volume and a lower average sales price tell the story of real estate in September, according to sales data released this afternoon by the Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors.
All of those markers are compared to September 2008.
And since the real estate market ground to a halt that month - across the U.S. and locally as the lending world imploded - the data may give a false sense of rebound as the third-quarter ends.
But Ann Arbor area Realtors say the pace of today’s activity means the local home and condo market should close the 2009 sales volume gap. At the end of the third quarter, it stood at over $133 million - thanks to sales totals of $472.5 million, or about 22 percent below the September 2008 year-to-date total of nearly $606 million.
“Because of the strength of the written business over the last couple of months, we will move ahead,” said Dawn Foerg, a manager at the Charles Reinhart Co.
But due to falling average prices - the average sale price in September fell to $183,344, down $5,430 from the same month last year - local Realtors are more likely to chart success in units sold rather than dollar volume.
“The average sales price is still affected by the number of foreclosures - and they still affect other prices,” said Ed Surovell, owner of Edward Surovell Realtors.
Home sales climbed 20 units over last September’s total, lifting the year-to-date unit count to 2,245. That trails 2008 by about 7 percent.
The condo market also showed a higher unit count, with 58 sales recorded this year compared to 38 in September 2008. The condo dollar volume actually grew to just under $7 million, compared to $5.85 million in 2008.
Year-to-date condo sales volume is $57.58 million, off 26 percent from 2008.
Condo numbers posted growth in August, too, a trend that may be driven in part by the first-time buyer credit, Foerg said.
The monthly snapshot of local activity includes:
• A 45 percent drop in the new home listings in the Ypsilanti area and a 47 percent drop in the new listings in the Lincoln schools.
• A 32 percent drop in new condo listings in Ann Arbor.
• About the same number of homes sold in Ypsilanti - 16 this September, 18 last year - but a $21,000 drop in the average sales price to $69,419 and a 42 percent drop in average days on market, which this year stood at 59.
• More homes sold in Ann Arbor this year: 78 compared to 59, and days on market dropped from 69 to 68. But the average list price fell to $260,231 from $287,861.
• The community with the highest average days on market to sell a house is Manchester, where six homes sold this September at an average price of $138,416. The homes were listed for an average 158 days, up from 107 in 2008.
“Activity was surprisingly strong for most of the summer and into the fall, but the strength doesn’t extent into the rural areas,” said Surovell.
He added: “We have areas where a good house sells quickly at close to full price and where there may be more than one offer.”
The overall market in the fourth quarter, Foerg emphasized, should look dramatically different from 2008, as today’s activity turns into sales by year-end.
“The last three months of 2008 were the worst we’ve see in a long time,” she said, “… (and) we’re having a much stronger fall.”
Paula Gardner is Business Director of AnnArbor.com. Contact her by email or phone at (734) 623-2586. Follow her on Twitter.
Comments
The Picker
Sat, Oct 17, 2009 : 8:07 a.m.
Perhaps Bush had enough on his plate at the time. And I'm sure Acorn and the Dem's would have accepted this without a peep! Banks in general don't want to loan to those who cannot pay them back, so why they would do this is obviously arm twisting.
jmac
Fri, Oct 16, 2009 : 7:24 a.m.
The Clinton Administration's repeal of the Glass-Steagall act to allow mortgate banks to get back into the investment business (which had been forbidden by the act since New Deal days) did facilitate the development of the current mortgate crisis. Even so, the crisis could have been avoided or greatly reduced if the next 8 year Bush administration had the wherewithall to see what was happening and put a lid on it. Which they didn't. One can't predict the future but you can certainly see the present; why didn't Bush and his advisors step up and step in?
The Picker
Thu, Oct 15, 2009 : 6:24 p.m.
The root of the mortgage crisis was Bill Clinton, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and the Community Redevelopment Act. An act that twisted the Banking community's arm into lowering lending standards. It was also recently revealed that a Bank could also come into compliance by making a donation to Acorn and partnering up with them. So how is that Bushes' doing?
jmac
Thu, Oct 15, 2009 : 2:33 p.m.
Some Dems are blocking the investigation into Countrywide because they took sweet mortgage loans from the same and don't want to be exposed. But those involved can't block the investigation forever; the emails and documents will see the light of day and those involved will (hopefully) suffer the consequences - or at least not get re-elected! I go back to my statement of awhile ago: it is time to knock off the partisan politics and move forward.
Macabre Sunset
Thu, Oct 15, 2009 : 11:40 a.m.
Yes, Stephen, you're entirely right. You didn't ride the political train to personal riches, as many of your peers did. I do blame both Democrats and Republicans for mismanaging our tax money, jmac, but it was a Democratic goal to increase home ownership in poor areas, which led to the relaxing of loan standards that got us into this current mess. Why are the Democrats blocking investigation into Countrywide? There's the fear that the investigation will uncover exactly how this program bilked the taxpayers.
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Thu, Oct 15, 2009 : 11:30 a.m.
Some of you are tossing around the term "bank" and "bankers" too loosely. I think you mean "Investment Banks" or "Mortgage Bankers". The bank that I am president of never originated a single toxic exotic mortgage of any flavor and we lost a lot of market share holding to that principle (our market share has now risen sharply because we are still standing and many of the non-bank firms that did the business in toxic exotic mortgages subsequently failed)! The community banking industry didnt cause these problems and the focus of the re-regulation that is certainly required should be targeted at the malefactors in the Investment Banking industry on Wall Street and among the virtually unregulated Independent Mortgage Bankers, not affiliated with actual banks. As a "banker", I had nothing to do with causing the problem, but I certainly am paying more than a fair share of the tab, "they" stuck us with.
David Briegel
Thu, Oct 15, 2009 : 10:29 a.m.
Oh, those awful poor people held a gun to the mortgage lenders! That is why we had to spend a trillion to bail out those sweet little patriotic bankers while millions of innocent citizens are bankrupted and foreclosed with virtually no assistance! How dare anyone blame the victims while not one single criminal banker goes to jail for their crimes! This is the Bush Depression! The ruins of the abject failure of everything Reagan/Bush stood for.
jmac
Thu, Oct 15, 2009 : 8:42 a.m.
Sorry, Macabre, I'm not buying your argument. Acting like 8 years of Republican Administration had nothing to do with the current real estate and econimic crises doesn't hold water. What was the Bush administration doing while the mortage crisis was developing? Being bullied by Democrats into letting the bankers and mortgage lenders have their way with no money down adjustable rate mortgages? If so, they are guilty of enacting an ideology of stepping aside and letting business do whatever it wants to make money. This is an ideology that has gotten the country (and Michigan in particular) into nothing other than a new Depression. Repubs and Dems alike have to wake up and smell the roses - knock off the partisan politics and move forward.
Dr. I. Emsayin
Wed, Oct 14, 2009 : 1:09 p.m.
I am glad to see so many homes selling. I know a number of folks who were happy to sell at lower prices because they could buy for lower prices.
Macabre Sunset
Wed, Oct 14, 2009 : 11:49 a.m.
Actually, much of the mortgage scandal rests on the Democrats, if you need to point fingers. Why are the Democrats protecting Countrywide executives, who were apparently openly bribing politicians for relaxed legislation? They are blocking a needed investigation right now. I'm not a Republican or a Democrat, by the way. Just a taxpayer thoroughly frustrated with both parties, and disgusted by all the corruption in government. This one belongs on the Democrats' shoulders, though. Without all the legislation focused on making it possible to buy low-end houses with no money done, and the subsequent cottage industry where people would flip dozens of homes, taking advantage of artificial price increases (remember the incessant infomercials), the real-estate crisis never would have started.
jmac
Wed, Oct 14, 2009 : 7:48 a.m.
Now, Now. As you know, the whole real estate mess is due to adjustable rate mortgages that were perpetrated by greedhead banks and mortgage lenders during the 2 Bush Jr. administrations. The Obama stimulus package will put little dent into this mess and will cost the country far less than the economic crisis (also in full force prior to his election) already has and probably will for the next five years. So come up with a constructive solution yourself instead of bashing a current president and legislature that's trying to avert total economic collapse.
jondhall
Wed, Oct 14, 2009 : 5:28 a.m.
Macabre got it right this time!! WE have went from what got us in this mess zero down to the New OBAMA 10% rebate! Yes if America does recover it will be long after this writer has left the planet as I'm only 56 years young. Our Great Grandchildren will pay for this and many of his other mistakes. Understand me some people were not MEANT for home ownership, no matter what the Socialists think!
Macabre Sunset
Tue, Oct 13, 2009 : 8:34 p.m.
How can a sentient being ignore the effects of the artificial cash for first-time-home-buyers program? More "stimulus" pork from Obama that will have to be paid for somehow. At any rate, no, Michigan's economy hasn't magically recovered and no, the increase in home sales at the bottom end is only temporary.