The real estate market continues to improve gradually, despite the end of June
statistics! So, what do I mean by that? The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) of
the Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors reported that the number of residential and
condominium sales January - June, 2011 were down 10.3% versus 2010. First, we
have to remember that in the first half of 2010 the IRS was subsidizing people
to buy homes through Federal Tax Credits for both first-time and repeat
purchases. Those programs expired last summer, but they INFLATED the first six
months results for 2010!
If we look deeper into this year's results there
are several encouraging facts:
- Home sale prices are up 3% v. 2010.
- The inventory of unsold houses on the market has shrunk since last summer.
- The number of properties pending (under sales agreement and moving to
closing) is up versus 2010.
- The home rental market is very tight today and rents are rising.
- Mortgage interest rates are lower than a year ago and property tax
assessments are generally declining.
I'm happy to say that Reinhart is leading the recovery. Our sales are only
down 1.3% v. 2010 and our pipeline of pending transactions is up 8% v. end of
June last year. Our average sale price is up 4.1% through June. As the second
quarter results graphs below indicate, we continued to expand our market shares
both in Ann Arbor and the larger "whole MLS" market.
We'll keep you posted on the market going forward.