SW Michigan Housing Market Showing Signs Of Cooling Down

swmirealtors

The red-hot housing market in southwest Michigan is showing signs of cooling down. Sales of existing homes in September were down by 12% from August and off by 3% compared to a year ago. For 2019 to date, sales are down by 1 home from the same period in 2018 at 2,731. Southwestern Michigan Association of Realtors association executive Alan Jeffries says inventory has dropped 4% to 1,820, which is a 7.3 months supply of homes on the market. The average selling price in September fell 2% from last year to $241,620, but the year-to-date average selling price through the first three quarters of the year is up 3% from 2018 at $237,390. The amount of bank-owned or foreclosed homes as a percentage of all sales rose from 3% in August to 4% in September, which is the same percentage as it was last year.

Locally, the mortgage rate increased to 3.786 from 3.692 in August. Last year in September, the rate was 4.827. Nationally, the Freddie Mac mortgage rate in September rose to 3.65 from 3.58 in August for a 30-year conventional mortgage.