The metro Detroit housing market continues to improve as inventory increases and sale prices keep ticking upward.
According to data released Monday by Farmington Hills-based Realcomp II Ltd., the housing stock in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Livingston counties has increased by 29.7 percent from 12,781 in June 2013 to 16,572 last month.
In addition, median sale prices have increased in that region by 20.2 percent year-over-year from $124,000 in June 2013 to $149,000 last month.
The housing stock rose by more than 20 percent in all four counties year-over-year, led by Macomb’s 34.4 percent increase from 2,290 to 3,078 and Oakland’s 31.9 percent from 4,459 to 5,880 houses on the market, according to Realcomp.
Wayne County had a 26.6 percent increase from 5,121 houses on the market in June 2013 to 6,482 last month, while Livingston County saw a 24.3 percent increase from 911 to 1,132, according to Realcomp.
“That hopefully will turn into sales starting to rise,” said Karen Kage, CEO of Realcomp.
Oakland County homes saw the greatest increase in year-over-year median sale prices, going from $76,159 in June 2013 to $102,500 last month, a 34.6 percent increase.
Oakland was followed by Macomb (20 percent increase to $72,000); Livingston (19.4 percent increase to $152,822) and Wayne (16.9 percent increase to $28,514) counties in median home sale prices.
“We may see (price increases) level off a little bit as the inventory continues to rise, and I think we need that,” Kage said. “Part of what got us in a difficult position five years ago was that the prices were going up so quickly and then it all came to a quick halt.”
This month’s numbers follow the upward trend for metro Detroit residential real estate.
Median home sale prices in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Livingston counties increased by 24.3 percent last month compared to May 2013, but sales fell by 8.9 percent in the same time period.
Data released by Realcomp in June showed that median sale prices increased from $111,000 to $138,000 in the four-county region.
Wayne County sale prices increased by 33.3 percent from $60,000 in May 2013 to $80,000 in May 2014. In Oakland County, they increased by 17.3 percent from $165,000 to $193,600, and in Macomb County they increased from $105,000 to $123,000, or 17.1 percent. In Livingston County they increased from $181,450 to $197,950, or 9.1 percent.
Total sales in the four-county region fell from 5,072 in May 2013 to 4,623 in May 2014, according to Realcomp.
May also marked the first time in five years that on-market inventory increased year-over-year, according to Realcomp.
In the four-county region, the number of available homes increased from 15,134 in May 2013 to 15,202 in May 2014, a 0.4 percent increase.
