February 2019 Real Estate Market Update – Oakland County, Michigan
We have your Oakland County February 2019 Real Estate Market Update. Let's jump right into it. So I always preface every single video with a couple of things that you guys know exactly what's going on. We do the month previous, not everyone I should say, but I get people asking me, "Why do you do the month previously? What's going on." It's because we have all the data, all the data is hot off the press. We have all the numbers in. It's just like getting the jobs report. It's the first Friday after every month. And just like this, we do the first Thursday of every month. That way we can give you the best, most recent data as to what's going on so you can make the best decisions for you and your family. We also do three years of data. That way we can show you a pattern. If I just showed you this year's data, it wouldn't make any sense. So when we have three years of data, we can show you that pattern cause some of these numbers wouldn't make sense at all if you just had one year of data. So we will jump into that, I'll dive more into that. But let's go jump in. Oakland County Market Update for February 2019.
Days on Market
So anytime you see that on the listing ticket or something like that or on some real estate website, it's days on market. You might see ADOM or CDOM which means additional days on market or cumulative days on market. But just know it's days on the market. Sometimes we have some skewed, weird data. Days on the market, we have 32 in 2017, 61 in 2018, 65 and 2019. Some of these are abnormal numbers. Some of these get skewed a little bit. You don't know why the reporting could be wonky sometimes. But this is why we give you 18 different numbers. That way you can see exactly what's going on and catch the trend. When you're in in the stock market, you always hear "the trend is your friend" and the same thing in real estate. It's the same thing with any investing. The trend is your friend and you want to use the trend to your advantage. So when you see them, the market going one way you can act appropriately. So we're going to kind of erase days on market from our minds right now and we're going to dive into some of the other ones and see what's going on here.
Active homes on the market.
This is a one day snapshot. When the data is taken, it's one day. How many homes are on the market on that day? In 2017 there's 3,897 and 2018 there are 3,537 and 2019 there were 4,127 so we have a little bit of decrease last year and then this year there was a solid increase. So a good number of homes on the market in Oakland County. So you can see the pattern is trending really up. Actually, overall. So it's a very interesting time in the market. Especially some of these counties are very linear, they kind of all are doing the same exact thing. As long as the numbers get a little skewed. It's when these counties, just because there's a lot of data here is a lot of stuff going on. Could be weird. Pricing going on. It could be just different types of homes came on the market at the same time. You just never really know. That's why you get to look at all the data cause then right here again you're seeing data kind of telling us that it looks like it's really trending towards more of a balanced market and you could be right.
Month of Inventory
But then you have MOI, the month of inventory, which is our next one and it's three across the board. It was three in 2017. It was three in 2018. It was three in 2019. Just to give you some context, one to three months of inventory is a seller's market and then four to six is balanced and then seven plus is a buyer's market. So again, really hasn't changed that ratio and that ratio is at the rate homes are selling, how long would it take to sell every last home if no new homes came in the market. That's a very quick ratio. Just look at the market and say, "Boom, I know exactly what's going on the market and I can position myself appropriately not looking at any other numbers." So you don't necessarily want to do that, but it gives you a really good idea of what's going on in a market when you can look at months of inventory.
New Homes in the Market
How many new listings were there in that month. In 2017 there were 2,397 homes, in 2018 there were 2087 homes and then this past February, there were 2069 homes. So again, a decrease in the number of new homes listed every single year, a significant drop from two years ago to last year and then a little drop from last year to this year. So not exactly the data we really want to see it cause that's obviously the current crop of homes that are right on the market right now. So we have less than we did last year, even in which, again last year with a down market. Things to keep an eye on it, but it does kind of show us, maybe some of these Oakland County numbers were a little right possibly up top here, but again, that's month previous. But we were seeing some, some funky numbers in the last couple of months too. So it makes sense that we're seeing some of these abnormal numbers in front of us. Something to kind of watch over the next month or two when we're doing the market updates as to what's going on here with these listings since there are fewer.
Price per square foot
This is a general rule of thumb. This is countywide that's why. If you actually need a value in your home, you have to get an appraiser for your home. You have to get a real estate professional. You have to get our team to your home and to walk the property and talk to you, see what updates you made, see what you've done in the property, walk the neighborhood, do the comps in your home and then actually give you that appraisal and give you that number. Price per square foot, as I said, is county-wide data and that's why we give you three years of data that we can see the trend. The big thing here is the trend guys. Which way is the trend going? Which way is the pricing going? You can see prices have been rising, obviously. Two years ago, it was $103 a square foot. Last year, it was $112 a square foot. And then this February is $117 a square foot. That's overall, if you take that price and then you multiply bigger square footage, it would give you about what your home will be worth. Like I said, general thumb, I don't want to keep beating a dead horse, but I get questions about this. I just want you guys to know that's a general rule of thumb. People are like "Woah! My home's way more or oh my gosh, my home's not worth nearly as much." It's just a general thumb. So you've got to get a professional over your home if you're going to actually need or want a true analysis.
Sold
This is really the buyer stat we have. This is something that shows us the buyer pool, what's going on in the buyer pool. We usually don't see a huge decrease or increase in the buyer pool necessarily unless there's a catastrophic event like 10 years ago. So there's a pretty big drop off two years ago to last year. There's 1,320 and then down to 1200, from '17 to '18 and then we are back up a little bit this February to 1,317. It was good seeing a number of homes close, more homes close. And really, I think that is because we're the last month or two there were some buyers who left the market, the interest rates going up. It scared some people. So there are more homes closing there and people that were a little more serious in the market.
So that is the Oakland County February 2019 Market Update. I really appreciate your time, your energy, your attention and you're giving it to us here. We are super grateful for that. If you have questions, comments, concerns, you guys on the podcast, Legacy Group MI on Facebook channel, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, all there. And if you're online right now, put the comments in the chat here. That way we can answer stuff for everybody and everyone can learn and grow together. So appreciate you guys more than anything. Like I said, your time, your attention, everything, that's the most important asset we have. So I appreciate you spending it with us. We'll see you guys in the next one.