Source: MLive —
The housing market is cleaning up its wildest party in decades. Prices saw double-digit increases while days on the market were reduced to hours. But now we’re flipping on the lights and ending this rager. It’s time to go back to normal — whatever that is.
This year is already being dubbed the “Housing Hangover.” Cue the metaphorical Alka-Seltzer fizzle.
The slow down began months before the ball dropped in Times Square. Home sales fell 35.1% year over year in November, according to Redfin data. The real estate brokerage company notes this is the largest decline in its records dating back to 2012.
Price increases have relaxed as well. Nationally the median U.S. home-sale price rose just 2.6% from a year earlier, the smallest gain since May 2020, according to Redfin.
The same can be seen in Michigan’s data. Realcomp, a real estate data company tracking lower Michigan, found the 7,873 closed sales in November were not only lower than 2021 numbers but even below 2018 levels of 9,766 closed sales.
Prices are certainly higher than they were five years ago, but the year-over-year increase was less than 2%. The median price landed at $230,000 in November 2022 in Michigan.
Days on the market also point to a slow down as they reach a more normal 33 days. About 28% of new listings were sold in the same month. Compare this to the breakneck pace of February 2021, when 85% of listed houses moved into the pending sales category in the same month.
All this culminates in a buyer’s market. But don’t count yourself out if you’re looking to sell — there are still buyers who lost out in the frenzy. And for homeowners who sat out the chaos, there’s some good news in the forecast for you too.
If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines, sour from being outbid or simply waiting to jump, this might be your year, said Realcomp CEO Karen Kage.
“If you’ve been patiently waiting to buy, or even impatiently waiting to buy, and you just couldn’t get in there quick enough, it may be the perfect time for you,” she said.
Buyers finally have more choices when they’re shopping. It’s still tight, but Realcomp data show’s Michigan inventory improving with an 11.6% increase.
This bolsters the months supply of inventory, or how many months it would take to for the housing stock to be sold at the current pace.
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