Things are heating up in Detroit—and not just the temperature! The four-county metro Detroit area has seen a steady increase in home and condominium sales in the last month, rising from 5,373 in May of 2016 to 5,556 in May of 2017.

This 3.4% increase proves the rumors about the Detroit real estate industry are true—Detroit is a buyer’s market and one of the hottest areas to purchase currently.
In addition to an increase in the amount of sales, the median sale price also improved since this time last year. The median price in May of 2016 was $164,900 whereas this year the average price climbed to $176,000—an increase of 6.7%.

While these figures, which trump most national averages to date, may appear to be good news for buyers, that’s not to say that the sellers are getting left in the dust. In fact, according to a report released by Realcomp Ltd. II, the number of on-market listings has recently dropped, giving sellers a much faster turnaround time on listings. Last month the number of listings came in at 10,628, whereas in May of 2016 that number showed at 18,193. That’s an incredible difference of 41.6%.

That’s not the only good news for sellers. Realcomp Ltd. II also reported that the average number of days a property spent on the market in the Detroit metro area was 33 days—a difference of 19.5% from May 2016’s 41 days.

Of course, this decrease in on-market listings is a concern to those in the real estate industry.

“I hope people are seeing that the market is strong and are willing to put their homes on the market,” said Karen Kage, CEO of Realcomp Ltd. II. “But then the issue is, where do you go? You can’t buy anything until people start putting their houses on the market.”

Another report released this year by the National Association of Realtors shows the extremity of the Detroit housing shortage, which is currently outranking the national average.

Kage seemed hopeful, however. “I think it’s going to be a pretty strong summer,” she announced.

News and Image Source: http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20170614/NEWS/170619948/metro-detroit-real-estate-market-heats-up