Jackie Hawley - Southeast Michigan Real Estate

Lake Orion Michigan Market Conditions

Lately I've been hearing on TV and radio that the real estate market is on the rebound. That because of the first time home buyer tax credit and the "economic recovery" that housing sales are through the roof. My mother even received a mailer from another Realtor stating that we are at record sales (units).

I don't know where these reports are coming from. It's like one of those stupid little videos that gets posted on Youtube and goes viral for no apparent reason. I try to update real estate sales- both units and prices- for the Clarkston, Oxford and Orion areas on a monthly basis. I have been keeping sales records for the Orion and Oxford areas since 2000, and those reports I referred to above are no where close to accurate.

Maybe after Alice ate a mushroom and was out frolicking in strawberry fields, she posted something on the Internet, and it went viral like one of those silly videos. And since it was "on the Internet" various reporters and pundits took it as gospel and repeated it, and repeated it, and repeated it again, until now it is a "fact"- we are at the beginning of a housing recovery. NOT!!

The facts: unit sales are about the same as last year and median sales prices are down drastically.

Let's start with the unit prices. For the first three quarters of the year Orion has had 2 less sales than last year- 267 closings as opposed to 269 closings for the same period last year. Last year- 2008- had a total of 357 closings for the entire year. Compare that to the amount of closings in 2004- 476 closings. There were 525 closings in 2003, 434 closings in 2002, 444 closings in 2001 and 475 closings in 2000- the first year I started keeping track. Hardly record sales.

Now for the really ugly news- the median sales prices. The median sales price so far this year in Lake Orion and Orion Township is at $152,000! That's down 28.3% from last year which was down 15.8% from the previous year. Of the sales so far this year over 43% are either short sales or foreclosures- a big reason for the drastic drop in prices.

If you are a seller- life sucks for you right now. If you are a buyer - this is a beautiful market. Houses are so on sale, interest rates are low, and there are many many tax credits for home improvements (the topic for another post). I had a buyer purchase a house this year in Orion Twp for $31,500! Over 1300 sq. ft. on a huge lot. A house that had sold for a little over $130K a few years ago. Sure- it needed some work. SOME work- not a ton.

I showed another house in Orion that my buyers decided to pass on but I thought was a real steal in Orion Woods. It was built in 1997, over 2300 sq. ft., finished basement, 2 car attached garage, backed to Bald Mt state land. It appeared the only problem with the house was one broken pipe and 2 sheets of drywall. Other than that the house was immaculate. It sold for $95,500 with $7,740 in seller concessions- that's an actual price of $87,760. For a house that sold for $225,000 in 2005. There was new construction on Newton Ct that sold for $130,660 after concessions- over 1700 sq. ft., 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, basement, garage. There was the 2384 sq. ft. house in Forest Hills that sold for $149,460, that 2107 sq ft house in Round Tree that sold for $179,450, and that 3082 sq. ft. house on Shrewsbury in Heather Lake Meadows that sold for $200,000. This particular house sold for $515,000 in 2006! And the list goes on and on.

I did an MLS search today for houses in Lake Orion and Orion Township built in 1990 or newer with at least 3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, garage and basement, under $200,000- 27 houses came up. In that list there are probably at least a few deals like the ones mentioned in the paragraph above.

For ACCURATE, up to date sales stats for Lake Orion and Orion Township, please refer to my stats page. It is long, dry and very detailed. And the best part is it is totally accurate!

www.MiRelocation.com
Lake Orion Michigan Listings
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This is an excellent time to buy in Clarkston, MI and Independence Township. The hugely large and fast appreciation of the 90's had to come to an end sometime. Prices have dropped over the past few years, but like the good times, this deflation in prices will be coming to an end, too. Since real estate is cyclical (feel a bit like the 80's except without the double digit interest rates?) the escalation of home prices will start to rise again. Making today's home purchase a great investment if you're willing to stay put until the good times come back.

Real estate is cyclic and right now we are on the down swing. In Orion Township, for example, the average sales price in 2007 was 6.7% lower than the average sales price in 2003. BUT, the average sales price in 2007 was still more than 6.3% more than in 2000. Oxford, MI shows similar stats. Unfortunately I didn't start keeping stats for Clarkston and Independence Township that far back.

Below is a summary of sales trends from 2005 to date for Independence Township and Clarkston, MI.

2005 - 401 sales - avg. sales price - $300,851 - median sales price - $275,000
2006 - 281 sales - avg. sales price - $299,863 - median sales price - $260,000
2007 - 325 sales - avg. sales price - $267,585 - median sales price - $230,000

In 2007 houses in Clarkston/Independence Twp. sold within 9.4% of the final average asking price and within 5.3% of the final median asking price.

The median sales price for the first quarter of 2008 was $190,000- down 20.7% from the median sales price in the first quarter of 2007 of $239,500. The good news is that the unit sales for the first quarter of 2008 were up 10.9% from the amount of sales in the first quarter of 2007.

The amount of foreclosures on the market have been, and will continue to, drive the sale prices down until the excess inventory is gone. As of 4/6/2008 there are 391 active listings in the MLS with an average asking price of $348,418 and a median price of $275,000. That's 66 more houses than sold in 2007, with more coming on the market every day and another waive of foreclosures expected to hit soon.

What do all these numbers mean? If you can afford to stay in your current home- STAY. Unless you are considering upgrading. If you are in the market to buy a house- your timing couldn't be better. The prices may go lower, but there's no guarantee. There are terrific bargains on the market now. Interest rates are still good. And FHA has raised the limits on what you can borrow, allowing for 3% down and possible zero down financing up to approximately $300,000 (depending on where you buy).

The above figures come from Realcomp MLS and backing out leases

This is an excellent time to buy in Oxford, Michigan. The hugely large and fast appreciation of the 90's had to come to an end sometime. Prices have dropped over the past few years, but like the good times, this deflation in prices will be coming to an end, too. Since real estate is cyclical (feel a bit like the 80's except without the double digit interest rates?) the escalation of home prices will start to rise again. Making today's home purchase a great investment if you're willing to stay put until the good times come back.

Real estate is cyclic and right now we are on the down swing. In Oxford, MI, for example, the average sales price in 2007 was 12.3% lower than the average sales price in 2005. BUT, the average sales price in 2007 was still more than 10.4% more than in 2000. Below is a summary of sales trends from 2000 to date for Lake Orion and Orion Township, MI.

2000 - 222 sales - avg. sales price - $216,693
2001 - 234 sales - avg. sales price - $243,161
2002 - 196 sales - avg. sales price - $243,309
2003 - 232 sales - avg. sales price - $242,823
2004 - 274 sales - avg. sales price - $250,000
2005 - 276 sales - avg. sales price - $276,825 - median sales price - $246,950
2006 - 182 sales - avg. sales price - $265,796 - median sales price - $237,450
2007 - 181 sales - avg. sales price - $241,877 - median sales price - $217,900

In 2007 houses in Oxford, MI sold within 5.5% of the final average asking price and within 5.2% of the final median asking price.

The median sales price for the first quarter of 2008 was $196,000- down 6.2% from the median sales price in the first quarter of 2007 of $209,000. The good news is that the unit sales for the first quarter of 2008 were up 27.5% from the amount of sales in the first quarter of 2007.

The amount of foreclosures on the market have been, and will continue to, drive the sale prices down until the excess inventory is gone. As of 4/6/2008 there are 278 active listings in the MLS with an average asking price of $321,686 and a median price of $249,950. That's 97 more houses than sold in 2007, with more coming on the market every day and another waive of foreclosures expected to hit soon.

What do all these numbers mean? If you can afford to stay in your current home- STAY. Unless you are considering upgrading. If you are in the market to buy a house- your timing couldn't be better. The prices may go lower, but there's no guarantee. There are terrific bargains on the market now. Interest rates are still good. And FHA has raised the limits on what you can borrow, allowing for 3% down and possible zero down financing up to approximately $300,000 (depending on where you buy).

The above figures come from Realcomp MLS and backing out leases

This is an excellent time to buy in Lake Orion, MI and Orion Township. The hugely large and fast appreciation of the 90's had to come to an end sometime. Prices have dropped over the past few years, but like the good times, this deflation in prices will be coming to an end, too. Since real estate is cyclical (feel a bit like the 80's except without the double digit interest rates?) the escalation of home prices will start to rise again. Making today's home purchase a great investment if you're willing to stay put until the good times come back.

Real estate is cyclic and right now we are on the down swing. In Orion Township, for example, the average sales price in 2007 was 6.7% lower than the average sales price in 2003. BUT, the average sales price in 2007 was still more than 6.3% more than in 2000. Below is a summary of sales trends from 2000 to date for Lake Orion and Orion Township, MI.

2000 - 475 sales - avg. sales price - $231,289
2001 - 444 sales - avg. sales price - $240,377
2002 - 434 sales - avg. sales price - $248,515
2003 - 508 sales - avg. sales price - $264,417
2004 - 493 sales - avg. sales price - $259,750
2005 - 361 sales - avg. sales price - $262,889 - median sales price - $249,000
2006 - 350 sales - avg. sales price - $251,952 - median sales price - $230,000
2007 - 304 sales - avg. sales price - $246,757 - median sales price - $222,750

In 2007 houses in Lake Orion/Orion Township sold within 5.4% of the final average asking price and within 3.1% of the final median asking price.

The median sales price for the first quarter of 2008 was $207,000- down 19.4% from the median sales price in the first quarter of 2007 of $256,727. The good news is that the unit sales for the first quarter of 2008 were up 12.5% from the amount of sales in the first quarter of both 2006 and 2007.

The amount of foreclosures on the market have been, and will continue to, drive the sale prices down until the excess inventory is gone. As of 4/6/2008 there are 375 active listings in the MLS with an average asking price of $305,134 and a median price of $259,900. That's 71 more houses than sold in 2007, with more coming on the market every day and another waive of foreclosures expected to hit soon.

What do all these numbers mean? If you can afford to stay in your current home- STAY. Unless you are considering upgrading. If you are in the market to buy a house- your timing couldn't be better. The prices may go lower, but there's no guarantee. There are terrific bargains on the market now. Interest rates are still good. And FHA has raised the limits on what you can borrow, allowing for 3% down and possible zero down financing up to approximately $300,000 (depending on where you buy).

The above figures come from Realcomp MLS and backing out leases