Source: Press & Guide —
The residential real estate free-for-all is in the rearview mirror and buyers and sellers can expect greater market stability in the year ahead, according to local real estate professionals.
Frenzied conditions that roiled the real estate industry during the height of the pandemic are giving way to a new normal that experts said is still taking shape.
“I anticipate we will see the normal seasonality to the market in 2023 that was absent the past couple of years,” said Jeanette Schneider, president of Re-Max of Southeastern Michigan.
Karen Kage, chief executive of Realcomp II, Michigan’s largest multiple listing service, added: “It has been a strange couple of years. We find ourselves going back to 2019 for better comparisons because 2020 and 2021 were so very different from normal.”
Nationally, industry analysts and veteran offer a range of predictions for the upcoming year Among those:
• Home prices will hold steady in much of the country amid a backdrop of inflation, higher mortgage rates and a tight inventory of homes for sale, according to the National Association of Realtors.
• Home sales are likely to slow, especially in “sunshine” states of Florida, California and Arizona, said Realtor.com in its 2023 Housing Forecast.
• No Michigan markets are expected to see a decline in home prices, according to the Zillow Home Index. A sampling of projected increases: 2.1% rise in the Detroit market; 3.3% in Grand Rapids; 0.5% in Ann Arbor; 2.2% in Lansing.
November home sales in the Dearborn-Dearborn Heights market declined 35.8% in November compared with the year-earlier month (129-201), according to the Re-Max Housing Report. The median sales price was $167,500, a 6% drop from November 2021.
The November median sales price for the combined market was $169,000, a 7.1% decline from the year-earlier month, reported to Realcomp II. The number of homes for sale slipped 8.4%, to 305.
“The market can change quickly, and it is important to talk with local experts as the local market may not be trending the same as what is happening nationally,” said Schneider.
The Press & Guide asked four local real estate specialists — with a combined experience of nearly 120 years — to size up the market for the next year.
They are:
• Mike Ayoub, 24 years, broker, Re-Max Team 2000
• Ted Easterly, 42 years, associate broker, Re-Max Team 2000
• Allison Fishwick, 30 years, associate broker, Howard Hanna
• Robert Marx, 22 years, Century 21 Curran/Oberski, current president of Dearborn Area Board of Realtors
Here are their views:
Q: The housing market of the past two years was marked by competition, rising prices, tight inventories and an uncertain economy buffeted by a pandemic, inflation and higher mortgage rates. What are the best lessons learned for buyers and sellers?
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