Ypsilanti Courier News
Home prices in the Ypsilanti area have been on the rise in the past year as the housing market continues to rebound.
As the housing market rebounds, Ypsilanti Realtors have noticed that home prices in the area have increased dramatically over the past year.
According to data compiled by Affinity Valuation Group LLC, average sale prices for homes in the Ypsilanti area rose by $31 per square-foot from January 2013 to January 2014. In March, homes sold for an average of $80 per square-foot, compared to $56 in March 2013.
For the first time in several years, sellers are finding that they can sell their home and break even or make a small profit from the sale.
Tyler Weston, a Howard Hanna Realtor specializing in the Ypsilanti area, said that several factors have contributed to the increase in home prices over the last year.
“A lot more houses that are coming on the market are not foreclosures,” Weston said. “Three years ago, 90 percent of the market was foreclosures or short sales. Today 90 percent are regular deals. There are still foreclosures and short sales, but it doesn’t make up most of the market. The houses are in much better condition now and they sell for more.”
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Another reason for the increase in home prices is a dwindling housing stock. As more buyers enter the market, the demand for houses in the area has increased dramatically. Weston said that sales move much more quickly than they were a few years ago.
“An attractive house will be on the market for a week or two. They’re going pretty quickly,” Weston said.
Weston said that on one of his recent listings, a house received 10 requests to show within 48 hours of being listed. Within another 48 hours, an offer had been written which Weston said was accepted at full list price.
Because the market moves so quickly, houses don’t sit on the market long enough for buyers to negotiate lower offers. Continued…
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“When I started three years ago, I would never write somebody an offer at the list price. We always went in lower,” Weston said. “Now on occasion we’re able to get the houses for a little bit less, but most times they’re selling pretty close to what they’re listed as, and sometimes a little bit more.”
Greg Drake, of The Drake-Jordan Team Realty Experts, agreed that a small housing inventory is a big reason that prices are going up.
“A lot of people are understanding that there’s just a dearth of inventory, and the fact that interest rates are still at a fairly decent level and they know they’re going up by the end of the year,” Drake said. “People want to buy while these rates are still acceptable, so you have more people than normal entering the market. At the same time, there are still so many people that are underwater on their houses and can’t put them on the market.”
Drake said it’s a simple supply and demand issue, and with interest rates around 4.5 percent (before the market crash they were between 6 and 9 percent) more and more people are trying to invest before rates climb back up.
The trend, Drake said, is happening across the country.
While home prices appear to be increasing dramatically in the area, Drake said that they’re coming back to what they were before the housing market took a dive in 2007, and that increase is starting to slow.
“It’s going to continue to increase a little bit, but it’s going to slow. In the last couple years, we came back almost 20 percent and now we’re on a 4 to 6 percent increase for this year and maybe the next couple of years. With the economy still sluggish, it’s not going to take off like a shot,” he said.
“We’re getting back to something that’s more of what everybody knew the real estate market to be before the whole debacle.”
- 1
- 2
- See Full Story
As the housing market rebounds, Ypsilanti Realtors have noticed that home prices in the area have increased dramatically over the past year.
According to data compiled by Affinity Valuation Group LLC, average sale prices for homes in the Ypsilanti area rose by $31 per square-foot from January 2013 to January 2014. In March, homes sold for an average of $80 per square-foot, compared to $56 in March 2013.
For the first time in several years, sellers are finding that they can sell their home and break even or make a small profit from the sale.
Tyler Weston, a Howard Hanna Realtor specializing in the Ypsilanti area, said that several factors have contributed to the increase in home prices over the last year.
“A lot more houses that are coming on the market are not foreclosures,” Weston said. “Three years ago, 90 percent of the market was foreclosures or short sales. Today 90 percent are regular deals. There are still foreclosures and short sales, but it doesn’t make up most of the market. The houses are in much better condition now and they sell for more.”
imgur.com” src=”http://list.ify.me/wp-content/images/cache/0/33/64/f5393_hxW24Zf.png” alt=”” /
Another reason for the increase in home prices is a dwindling housing stock. As more buyers enter the market, the demand for houses in the area has increased dramatically. Weston said that sales move much more quickly than they were a few years ago.
“An attractive house will be on the market for a week or two. They’re going pretty quickly,” Weston said.
Weston said that on one of his recent listings, a house received 10 requests to show within 48 hours of being listed. Within another 48 hours, an offer had been written which Weston said was accepted at full list price.
Because the market moves so quickly, houses don’t sit on the market long enough for buyers to negotiate lower offers.
“When I started three years ago, I would never write somebody an offer at the list price. We always went in lower,” Weston said. “Now on occasion we’re able to get the houses for a little bit less, but most times they’re selling pretty close to what they’re listed as, and sometimes a little bit more.”
Greg Drake, of The Drake-Jordan Team Realty Experts, agreed that a small housing inventory is a big reason that prices are going up.
“A lot of people are understanding that there’s just a dearth of inventory, and the fact that interest rates are still at a fairly decent level and they know they’re going up by the end of the year,” Drake said. “People want to buy while these rates are still acceptable, so you have more people than normal entering the market. At the same time, there are still so many people that are underwater on their houses and can’t put them on the market.”
Drake said it’s a simple supply and demand issue, and with interest rates around 4.5 percent (before the market crash they were between 6 and 9 percent) more and more people are trying to invest before rates climb back up.
The trend, Drake said, is happening across the country.
While home prices appear to be increasing dramatically in the area, Drake said that they’re coming back to what they were before the housing market took a dive in 2007, and that increase is starting to slow.
“It’s going to continue to increase a little bit, but it’s going to slow. In the last couple years, we came back almost 20 percent and now we’re on a 4 to 6 percent increase for this year and maybe the next couple of years. With the economy still sluggish, it’s not going to take off like a shot,” he said.
“We’re getting back to something that’s more of what everybody knew the real estate market to be before the whole debacle.”
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