Home sales in metro Detroit rise 4.3 percent in October year over year

Fewer homes for sale push prices up

Detroit's median sales price increased nearly 30 percent in October from a year ago

Home prices and sales in metro Detroit ticked up in October while the number of homes on the market remained low, Farmington Hills-based Realcomp Ltd. II reported Tuesday.

Home and condominium sales rose 4.3 percent in October from a year ago with 5,446 purchases, compared to 5,219 in October 2016.

Detroit saw the largest gain, with home sales up 10.3 percent, with 375 sales last month compared to 340 last year. Greater Wayne County shot up 8.5 percent, while Livingston rose 3.6 percent, Macomb 3 percent and Oakland 1.1 percent.

The number of homes on the market plunged 28.5 percent in metro Detroit from a year ago, from 17,584 in October 2016 to 12,566 last month. In Detroit, inventory was down nearly 21 percent compared.

Karen Greenwood, president of the Greater Metropolitan Association of Realtors, said with the lower inventory she has seen a boost in the number of multiple bidders on homes this year. The hottest markets are in Royal Oak, Waterford, Ferndale, Southfield and especially Oak Park, she said.

"I would love to see more inventory numbers because more inventory would give more buyers more choices," Greenwood said.

Low housing inventory is impacting how much homes command as buyers find it more difficult to find a home for $100,000 in the suburbs, Greenwood said.

The median sale prices in metro Detroit climbed 7 percent to $175,500 last month from $164,000 in October 2016, while median sale prices in Detroit soared 29.4 percent, from $24,000 to $31,050.

While there is more room for improvement, Greenwood said Detroit's trend is positive as the city comes back from years of brutal declines. That means more people are looking to move into the city, on the heals of improving infrastructure, new restaurants and businesses.

"When infrastructure improves, people are going to want to move back to the city. Now that demand is higher, you see the sales price go higher, and this is what Detroit has needed for a long time," she said. "As a major city, it's still affordable, though I do not know how much longer that is going to last."

Looking down the road, Greenwood suggested the buyers market will heat up as the temperature outside steadily gets cooler.

"Don't be patient — go shopping now," she said. "Sellers who put their house on the market in the last or first quarter want to sell their house. Competition increases in the spring."