Constantly rising home prices couldn’t last forever. And that’s what’s been the case in our recent exclusive MOTM “first look” summaries from the Southwestern Michigan Association of Realtors. Home prices are still favorable to sellers, but moderating a bit, and the housing supply of available homes on the market is levelling off. It would be fair to say the market is “normalizing” and in a less “frantic” state than during the thick of the pandemic, when it seemed sellers were in a race to get their homes on the market, and buyers were feeling the pressure of fast-rising prices.
Here is the full update from the Realtors Association:
As the chilly temperatures slipped in, the SWMI housing market sales and selling prices continued to chill. In November, the number of houses sold dropped 7 percent from November 2020 and 9 percent from October 2021 (334 vs. 359 and 334 vs. 367, respectively). Since June, the inventory of houses for sale has continued decreasing over 20 percent per month.
Year-to-date, the number of houses sold at the end of November was 3593, up 1 percent over November 2020 (3593 vs. 3557). At 3593 houses, November set a new sales record in the year-over-year sales records since 2006., The year-to-date sales have set records over previous years for the last eleven months.
The average selling price in November dropped 7 percent from the record-setting average selling price in November 2020 ($322,192 vs. $344,901). The year-to-date average selling price in November 2021 set a new record climbing 6 percent over November 2020 ($321,711, vs. $302,555). Compared to October, the average selling price dropped 4 percent ($321,755 vs. $337,096).
The median selling price in November 2021 stayed even with November 2020 at $220,000. From October 2021, the median price decreased 6 percent ($220,000 vs.$235,000). Year-to-date, the median selling price increased 5 percent ($225,000 vs. $215,000). The year-to-date median selling price set a new record price in the month of November in the year-over-year comparison.
The median price is the price at which 50% of the homes sold were above that price, and 50% were below.
The inventory of houses for sale fell 25 percent from a year ago (702 vs. 930), bringing the inventory of houses for sale to a 2.7-months supply of inventory available for buyers. For comparison, in November 2010, there were 3160 houses for sale and a 15.8-months supply of inventory. Throughout 2021, the inventory level at the end of each month has fallen 20 percent to 48 percent.
The total dollar volume decreased 13 percent in November 2021 ($107,612,417 vs. $123,819,694). The year-to-date total dollar volume set a new record for the dollar volume at the end of November ($1,156,068,827 vs. $1,076,190,533). The year-to-date total dollar volume rose 7 percent.
There were two bank-owned or foreclosed homes as part of all transactions in November, which was just 1 percent. In January, the rate was 4 percent, the highest rate for the year. The previous lowest percentage in November was 2 percent in 2020 and the highest percentage in November was 36 percent in 2010.
Nationally, in November the Freddie Mac mortgage rate was 3.1, down slightly from 3.14 in October for a 30-year conventional mortgage.
This data reflects home sales across Allegan, Berrien, Cass, and the westerly 2/3 of Van Buren Counties and should not be used to determine the market value of any individual property. If you want to know the market value of your property, please contact your local REALTOR®.
