ST. JOSEPH, MI – “The tax credit continued to have a very positive influence on the closed sales in April pushing the number of sales, dollar volume and selling prices higher. We should continue to see residuals of the tax credit program for the next couple of months because buyers and sellers have until June 30^th to close the transaction they started before May 1. The housing market typically rolls into its peak selling period starting now and lasts into the fall months. We are cautiously optimistic that the local housing market has bottomed and we are starting a sustainable recovery. The market continues to have a large selection of homes available at very attractive prices and the interest rates are still at historical lows,” stated Gary Walter, EVP, of the Southwestern Michigan Association of REALTORS®, Inc.

The number of houses sold and closed rose 15 percent (225 vs. 196) when comparing April this year to April 2009.  Year-to-date, we are up 22 percent.  The total dollar volume for the month skyrocketed 47 percent (35,145,007 vs. 23,993,126) and year-to-date is up 38 percent.  The average selling price jumped 28 percent with $128, 904 compared to $113,568 in 2009.  This helped to push the year-to-date average selling price up 14 percent.  The median selling price soared 39 percent to $109,839 verses $78,900 a year ago.  Now the year-to-date median price is up 34 percent over that in 2009.  The median price is the price at which 50% of the homes sold were above that price and 50% were below.

Nationally, existing-home sales rose in April with buyers motivated by the tax credit, improving consumer confidence and favorable affordability conditions, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

Existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 7.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.77 million units in April from an upwardly revised 5.36 million in March, and are 22.8 percent higher than the 4.70 million-unit pace in April 2009. Monthly sales rose 7.0 percent in March.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the gain was widely anticipated. “The upswing in April existing-home sales was expected because of the tax credit inducement, and no doubt there will be some temporary fallback in the months immediately after it expires, but other factors also are supporting the market,” he said. “For people who were on the sidelines, there’s been a return of buyer confidence with stabilizing home prices, an improving economy and mortgage interest rates that remain historically low.”

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $173,100 in April, up 4.0 percent from April 2009. Distressed homes accounted for 33 percent of sales last month, compared with 35 percent in March.

Regionally, existing-home sales in the Midwest rose 9.9 percent in April to a pace of 1.33 million and are 29.1 percent above a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $146,400, up 5.8 percent from April 2009.

A parallel NAR practitioner survey shows first-time buyers purchased 49 percent of homes in April, up from 44 percent in March. Investors accounted for 15 percent of transactions in April, down from 19 percent in March; the remaining sales were to repeat buyers. All-cash sales stood at 26 percent in April; they were 27 percent in March.

In SWMI, bank-owned or foreclosed homes after a 50 percent spike in February settled to 40 percent in March and settled again to 38 percent in April.  “Foreclosed transactions declined to roughly one-third of sales during most of 2009.  Hopefully we can work through the inventory of foreclosed homes and reduce this percentage as we go,” Walter stated.

Walter continued, “The inventory normally increases this time of year and we had 3908 listings at the end of April.  This gives us a 15.6 month-supply of homes for sale, which is slightly down from this time last year.”

Nationally, the total housing inventory at the end of April rose 11.5 percent to 4.04 million existing homes available for sale, which represents an 8.4-month supply at the current sales pace, up from an 8.1-month supply in March. Raw unsold inventory is 2.7 percent above a year ago, but remains 11.6 percent below the record of 4.58 million in July 2008.

“Although inventory levels remain above normal and much of the gain last month was seasonal, the housing price correction appears essentially over,” Yun said. “In fact, a majority of the markets have seen price gains recently. A return to old-fashioned responsible lending and buying will help the housing market avoid disruptive and painful bubble-bust cycles.”

Interest rates in SWMI increased slightly from 5.13 percent in March to 5.22 percent in April. According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage rose to 5.10 percent from 4.97 in March.  A year ago the rate was 4.91 percent in April 2009.

The numbers reported for local sales include residential property in Berrien, and the western half of Van Buren and Cass counties.  All three counties are included in numbers and percentages and do not reflect differences in any individual areas.

The Southwestern Michigan Association of REALTORS^®, Inc. is a professional trade association for real estate licensees and ancillary service providers for the real estate industry in Van Buren, Berrien and Cass counties.  The Association is located at 3123 Lake Shore Drive St. Joseph, MI 49085, (269) 983.6375.  They can also be contacted through their web site, www.swmar.com.

The National Association of Realtors^®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing more than 1.2 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

###