Home sale prices are up while sales numbers are way down in metro Detroit's real estate market, which has yet to experience any collapse in values from the coronavirus-caused recession, according to new monthly data released Tuesday.
The latest Remax Housing Report says the region's median home sales price was $234,063 in June, or 4.6% higher than a year earlier. Meanwhile, the number of closed sales was down nearly 27% to 3,370.
The data includes Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Livingston counties, and doesn't count private sales or for-sale-by-owner transactions.
The higher sales prices reflect the thin inventory of for-sale homes on the market, said Jeanette Schneider, executive vice president of Remax of Southeastern Michigan.
"We're seeing activity from the buyers out there. What we haven't been seeing that much is people putting their home on the market," Schneider said. "Sellers have been a bit more cautious. And because of that, we continue to have our supply and demand challenges."
Realtor Jason Matt of Keller Williams Realty in Plymouth said many recent buyers feel secure in their jobs and haven't been that negatively affected by the nationwide recession.
Ultra-low mortgage rates have also helped to boost prices. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said last week that the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was below 3% for the first time in 50 years.
"Now you've got low inventory and you've got crazy low interest rates," Matt said. "We're seeing multiple offers — over asking price (offers) — but the actual sales are down."
The number of closed sales is expected to be higher in July than in June, Schneider said.
Total sales plummeted this spring during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic and the statewide shutdown, when homes viewings and sales had to be done remotely.
The year-over-year median sale price rose the most in Wayne County (up 11% to $160,000), followed by Livingston County (up 6% to $293,950), Macomb County (up nearly 3% to $203,850) and Oakland County (up 1% to $278,450).
The median sales prices nationwide was up about 2% in June from a year ago to $275,000 and sales were down 7%, according to the Remax report.
