September 2020 Real Estate Market Update – Oakland County, Michigan

We always preface it with a couple of things here. We've been doing this for over five years now, giving you the data that you need to decide for your family every single month. The data is finalized - the data for September. We have three years of data also that way you can see a trend. The trend is your friend. Remember that in investing. This is what we're doing - investing. Whether it's a personal home, a homestead, or it's a rental property, you're always investing whether you know what it or not, right? So let's jump right into this.

Days on market

Thirty-four two years ago, 45 last year, and back down to 39 this year. We're seeing this across the board, this little bell curve right now. All these numbers should be more interesting to know.

The active number of homes

Five thousand seven hundred thirty-nine 2 years ago, 6,129 last year. This is a one-day sample size. On the day that data was taken, how many homes are on the market at that time? But still, that is a massive, massive drop-off. We are really in one. So there's no other way to explain it.

Months of inventories (MOI)

Three months of inventory, two years ago, three months last year, two months this year. So for context, one to three months is a seller's market, meaning there's not a lot of inventory and the prices are going up. Four to six months is a balanced market. And then seven-plus means there are tons of properties out there. Prices are coming down. MOI means at the rate homes are selling, how long does it take to sell every last home with no new homes coming in the market. That's what that stands for. This is a super important ratio. Just so you can see really quickly what kind of market we're in.

New homes in the market

This is the month-wide numbers. How many homes actively listed new on the market that month? Three thousand eighty-eight two years ago, 3,468 last year, 3,117 this year. So we're seeing this across the board as well. We're seeing a drop-down again going forward, which is unfortunate. Well good for sellers, but what do you do when you go buy?

Price per square foot

$130 a square foot two years ago, $133 last year, and $151 this year. So prices are really going up. More importantly, we're seeing the trend going up obviously. If you take the square footage of your house and you multiply it by that, it'll give you approximately the value of your home. If you want a true valuation - remember, that's a countywide number, you have to have someone on our team or an appraiser come or a professional - someone who's sold hundreds of homes. They have to be able to come to give you an accurate assessment of your home. This just gives you the trend of which way your equity is trending.

Sold

This is people actually signing on the dotted line at a closing table - 1,738 two years ago, 1,830 last year and then 2,349 this year. So we're seeing this across the board as well. The big jump up is because there's not a lot of homes and we are stacked up in the summer months. Now they're all finally closing. Unfortunately, now we're seeing fewer homes in the market going forward though. So stay tuned. We are in one. A lockdown is coming possibly and other craziness happening in the world. I don't know how much better it's going to get.

So we're going to be here to ride you through the waves and the storm. That's what we always do as we've been doing it for years. We're going to continue to do that, continue to arm you with information that you need, and we've been through this hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times. We've seen so many different types of transactions that you have to have people that can weather the storm for you and provide you. I know when people go to buy and sell homes, they are thinking, "What are we going to do?" when you're going to sell your home, you're trying to get an offer on your home. You want to go to sleep at night and you want to have a little stress possible and not have any fuss with your property. You can go to bed at night knowing that your issues are taken care of. So that's what our job is.

This is Oakland County in September 2020. We will have more October updates here soon, and we look forward to seeing you guys in the next one. If you are on the podcast, go to @mittenmadeproperties, on Facebook, or YouTube Channel. We appreciate your time, your attention, your energy, and us sharpening your mind. That's what we're doing here. Your mind and your time are the most important assets you have. Those two things. So sharpen your mind, keep that sharp every single day and use your time wisely. So appreciate you guys. We'll see you at the next one.