While mortgage interests rates have only decreased moderately, it’s enough to drive a continued positive path for residential home sales in Michigan’s Great Southwest. A look at our exclusive MOTM ‘early preview’ of home sales numbers in Southwest Michigan shows continued increased activity and higher sale prices, compared to a year ago.
Here are the details, supplied by the Southwestern Michigan Association of Realtors:
In November, the local SWMI housing market continued to set new records for selling prices. Sales were up over November 2023 (228 vs. 206). The inventory of houses for sale swelled by roughly 1200 houses in November compared to a year ago.
The number of houses sold in November increased by 11 percent from November 2023 (228 vs. 206). Year-to-date, 2606 houses were sold by the end of November, up two percent (six houses) over the 2600 houses sold in November 2023.
The inventory of houses for sale sky-rocketed by 1190 houses above the level available in November 2023 (1950 vs. 760). This level of houses gave homebuyers a 5.7-months supply, down from 5.9-months supply in October. For comparison, in November 2010, a recession period, there were 3160 houses for sale for a15.8-months supply of houses for homebuyers.
The average selling price in November 2024 increased 20 percent to $408,817 compared to $341,990 in November 2023. The November average selling price was the fourth month in 2024 when the average selling price rose above the $400,000 mark. In May, the highest price for the year reached $416,819. Year-to-date, in 2024, the average selling price grew 5 percent to $378,328 from $359,102.
The median selling price in November 2024, $268,500, increased 1 percent from $265,000 in November 2023. Year-to-date, the median selling price increased by 6 percent ($275,000 vs. $260,625).
The median price is the price at which 50% of the homes sold were above that price and 50% were below.
The total dollar volume in November 2024 increased 31 percent compared to November 2023. ($93,210,493 vs. $71,159,000). The year-to-date total dollar volume grew 5 percent ($985,923,379 vs. $935,594,599).
The number of bank-owned or foreclosed homes as a percentage of all transactions decreased to 2 percent from 3 percent in October. There were four houses included. The previous lowest percentage was 0 percent in November 2022, and the highest percentage in November was 36 percent in 2010.
The Freddie Mac mortgage rate in November increased to 6.81 from 6.72 in October for a 30-year conventional mortgage. A year ago, the rate was 7.22.
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®.
