More than just Leaves are Falling - What Q3 Sales Tell Us about the NoMi Real Estate Market

Seeing a lot of price drops and wondering what it means for the local Real Estate Market? Here is the skinny on what is really going on in our beautiful backyard.

Home sales in Emmet County continue to be strong relative to listing supply, which remains tight. New listings were down 21% year over year for the month of September. It’s not as bad as it seems; one month does not make a trend. When we take a look at year to date, new listings are down a much more normal 8%. Unit sales continue to take a beating no matter which way you look at it, down 18% both YTD and in the same period YOY. The interplay between these two stats leads to prices holding steady overall. Sold home prices for the same period of September are down 4%, but still trend positively at 3% appreciation when we look year to date. It’s worth noting this appreciation is much slower than in the previous several years.

What about days on the market? This is an important metric as a key indicator of buyer demand. It's holding strong at 46 days, up an ever-so-slight 2%, which can be attributed to a rounding error. Homes are still selling silly fast when priced properly. And that seems to be at least part of the issue with price drops everywhere you look. Some would-be sellers are swinging for the fences on price to see what the market can bear. Often, this is an honest effort of trying to pinpoint value in a hard-to-predict market. Like most any other product, real estate is pretty price elastic, which means if you hit the wrong price out of the gate, you should be able to adjust your price and still spur on demand and maybe even a competitive situation. The important thing here is making sure you react quickly enough in the market to not turn days on the market into your enemy.

A good realtor knows how to market and price your home. Occasionally, even the best number crunchers get it wrong out of the gate. The best will also know when they have it right based on how many showings and offers you have within a certain amount of time after listing and will help you adjust accordingly, and importantly, quickly.

And the very, VERY best? They know how to keep your deal together until you make it to the closing table and how to negotiate on your behalf whether you are a buyer or seller. While the obvious metrics like the number of transactions and home values tell us one story, there is more happening behind the scenes which is difficult to measure. Most notably, inspection negotiations are very much a way of life again. Two years ago, negotiating after receiving the results of an inspection was unheard of because the seller would just move on to the next buyer in line. Those beautiful days are behind us until interest rates come back down. Realtors are working harder than ever to create win-win deals for buyers and sellers.

Speaking of realtors, it’s pretty wild out there with transactions being down and negotiations getting tougher. It's definitely putting the talents of your local realtors to the test. We hope you work with us, but if you aren’t, it's more important than ever that you work with an experienced, knowledgeable agent who is involved in a number of transactions and can assess your personal situation and work in your best interest. If you are looking for that special someone, or even yet a team of people, give us a call or slide into our DMs today.