Metro Detroit home sales were flat in June compared with last year as the market regroups after homebuyer tax credits accelerated sales this spring.
There were 4,958 home sales in the tri-county area in June compared with the same number in June 2009. Increases in Oakland and Macomb counties were offset by a decline in Wayne County, according to figures released Monday by Realcomp, a Farmington Hills-based multiple listing service.
Macomb County sales rose 25.2% to 988 in June, from 789 last year. Oakland County sales rose 21% to 1,793 compared with 1,480 a year ago. And Wayne County home sales fell by 19% to 2,177 from 2,689.
And sales in the city of Detroit dropped 42% to 679 from 1,171 a year ago.
The market slowdown was anticipated this spring as the deadline to qualify for homebuyer tax credits expired April 30. The deadline pushed people who might have waited until the summer to buy a home to speed up their plans. As a result, sales are expected to lag in the coming months.
Flo Abke, broker/owner of Realty Executives Select in St. Clair Shores, said she thinks that first-time homebuyers will continue to buy since interest rates are at historic lows and home prices are still very affordable. But the move-up buyers at the more expensive end of the market may hold back without the added incentive of the tax credit.
“But there are a lot of good reasons to move up if you are comfortable with your job,” she said. “But based on the economy, sales aren’t that bad. They are better than they were last year, and inventory is down.”
The number of houses for sale fell to 38,387 in June, compared with 49,503 in June 2009 in the Realcomp market area, which includes southeast Michigan and the Thumb.
And median prices at which homes sold in June continued to rise. The median in Wayne County rose by 119.5% to $45,000, from $20,500 a year ago; in Detroit, it rose 52% to $9,900 from $6,500; in Oakland County, it rose 28% to $125,000 from $97,750, and in Macomb County, it rose 4.5% to $75,250 from $72,000.