Home sales fall fast in state
New construction also down in '06
January 16, 2007
BY JOHN GALLAGHER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
The Michigan Association of Realtors reported Monday that 2006 sales of existing single-family homes in the state were down nearly 14% through November from the same period in 2005.
Sales of existing homes were down even more sharply in some parts of metro Detroit. The Monroe County Association of Realtors reported that sales there were down nearly 30% through November compared with the same period of 2005. The Realtors association in Livingston County reported that its sales were off nearly 25% through November.
The city of Detroit continued to show modest strength, with sales up 7.6% through November over year-ago levels.
If the slump in the residential market is bad news for sellers and home builders, it provides opportunities for buyers, said Irvin Yackness, executive vice president of the Building Industry Association of Southeastern Michigan.
"All of these things make this a great time to buy," Yackness said Monday. "Interest rates historically are very low. That is a very positive reason for buying."
A weak housing market also led to a sharp drop in new-home construction in metro Detroit in 2006.
A report from Housing Consultants Inc. of Clarkston showed that builders took out 48% fewer permits in 2006 than in 2005 over a nine-county southeast Michigan region.
The slowdown in residential real estate sales and new building has affected many other regions of the nation, too. But metro Detroit saw home prices fall at the sharpest rate in the country during the July-September period.
The National Association of Realtors reported in November than the median price in metro Detroit during that period -- half sold for more, half for less -- was $154,100. That was down about 10.5% from the same period in 2005.
New construction also down in '06
January 16, 2007
BY JOHN GALLAGHER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
The Michigan Association of Realtors reported Monday that 2006 sales of existing single-family homes in the state were down nearly 14% through November from the same period in 2005.
Sales of existing homes were down even more sharply in some parts of metro Detroit. The Monroe County Association of Realtors reported that sales there were down nearly 30% through November compared with the same period of 2005. The Realtors association in Livingston County reported that its sales were off nearly 25% through November.
The city of Detroit continued to show modest strength, with sales up 7.6% through November over year-ago levels.
If the slump in the residential market is bad news for sellers and home builders, it provides opportunities for buyers, said Irvin Yackness, executive vice president of the Building Industry Association of Southeastern Michigan.
"All of these things make this a great time to buy," Yackness said Monday. "Interest rates historically are very low. That is a very positive reason for buying."
A weak housing market also led to a sharp drop in new-home construction in metro Detroit in 2006.
A report from Housing Consultants Inc. of Clarkston showed that builders took out 48% fewer permits in 2006 than in 2005 over a nine-county southeast Michigan region.
The slowdown in residential real estate sales and new building has affected many other regions of the nation, too. But metro Detroit saw home prices fall at the sharpest rate in the country during the July-September period.
The National Association of Realtors reported in November than the median price in metro Detroit during that period -- half sold for more, half for less -- was $154,100. That was down about 10.5% from the same period in 2005.
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