When the news broke that Grand Rapids was the 5th most affordable city in the United States, you would have thought there would be cheering and dancing in the streets.  After all, isn't affordability a great thing in the era of recession fears and increasingly dire economic news?  

Well, if there was such thing as negative miracles, somehow this normally great news is being apprehended by the boogie man...fear of the unknown.  News reports indicate that potential buyers fearful of further declines in the market are determining they won't buy now even though prices haven't been this low for more than 20 years!  Wow!

Well, I'm glad that I'm living in a parallel universe.  These past two weeks have been some of busiest we've had at Audu Real Estate.  We're taking buyers out and some of the deals that we're seeing are so good that we're being told that we're offer #2 or #3.  Today, I fielded several requests for home showings on homes we have listed!

When opportunity knocks, we have determined that we don't want to be sleeping.  We've found that it's better to open the door because often opportunity doesn't stick around, it keeps on trudging towards the next likely candidate.  What FDR said remains true... 'the only thing to fear is fear itself.'

So, if you're a homeowner who would like to sell your home or a home buyer who wants to check out what the incredible options are right now....give us a call or e-mail us at info@auduhomes.com. We're eager to be of service.

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Copyright 2009  Audu Real Estate  All Rights Reserved

Checking the Housing Market Temperature in Grand Rapids, Michigan!

We're at the halfway point for the year & it has come mighty quickly!  This year, for the first time, the Grand Rapids, Real Estate Association of Realtors(GRAR) launched an ad campaign with the focus "Now is The Right Time to Buy!" 

While advertising does not create instantaneous results, it is helpful to see how our market is comparing with the newly revised market predictions form the National Association of Realtors. (NAR)  First, let's take a look at the local scene.

So far, this year, the highest sales price in the Grand Rapids, Michigan School District has been $479,000 which was just about 1/2 the price of the highest sale price for East Grand Rapids, Michigan ($1,375,000) and 5-10% lower than some neighboring communities such as Hastings, Michigan where the highest sales prices was $488,000 or Jenison, Michigan school district where the highest sales price was $520,000.  To Search for Homes by School District click here...

Average sales prices for 2007 have hovered around $108,000 with the median price at $105,000.  We're still lagging behind last year in terms of average sales price & some other key indicators. 

Last year, the average home in Grand Rapids, Schools sold for approximately $117,000 and the median was $114,000.  That translates to a 7.6% Decline in Average Home Values in the Grand Rapids school district over the past year.  

In terms of the Number of Units...at the 1/2 Mark of the Year,  there have been just slightly less than 1/2 the number of homes sold over the entirety of last year. The number of listings for the entire Board is up this year by about 1300+ units for statistics compiled up to May 2007, but the Sales Price aggregate for Listings is below last years numbers significantly.

This is NOT the time to over-price a home!  Take a look at the graph below...The yellow bars correspond to 2007.  If a home was priced correctly and on the market for a week or less in 2006 & 2007, most homeowners got pretty much what they were asking for.  If the home was on the market for over 90 days, Deep Discounts kicked in if homeowners had to sell their homes.  The price correction for over-pricing is even STEEPER than it was for 2006...We're talking discounts of up to 25%!  Ouch!

How Does Grand Rapids Fare...

in comparison to National Statistics?

According to the National Association of Realtors Housing Market Focus, the revised predictions call for a 6.4% drop nationwide in existing home sales. At the beginning of the year, the forecast had indicated a stabilization of the market, with a moderate increase in sales. 

Factors which have impacted the forecast nationwide include the crisis in the sub-prime lending industry.  In the greater Grand Rapids, Michigan area, this has been compounded by continued sluggish growth in the economy due to job losses. 

To obtain a detailed report on the market in your particular city or West Michigan community, contact us at info@auduhomes.com.

*Information is obtained from the statistical reports compiled by GRAR & is deemed to be accurate but not guaranteed.

Copyright 2007 Audu Homes All Rights Reserved

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