When Kate Brouner decided to put her six-bedroom, three-bath 3,590-square-foot Howell house on the market, she called the previous owner: Novi-based Realtor Jenn Anderson.<\/p>\n
Anderson lived in the home for 11 years before selling to Brouner.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe call it \u2018our house\u2019 and we wanted to make sure to find the right buyer,\u201d Anderson said.<\/p>\n
Winter tends to be a slower time for agents but it allows real-estate agents to size up last year\u2019s marketplace and forecast the year ahead. But houses are still being bought and sold.<\/p>\n
Steve Stockton has a national and local perspective of the housing market. He\u2019s a board member for RealComp, Michigan\u2019s largest multiple-listing service; the North Oakland County Board of Realtors; and the National Real Estate Review Board.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the longest time period we\u2019ve had growth: 29 months in a row of increased value nationally,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t remember a month since COVID where we haven\u2019t gone up month over month.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regionally, sales rose month-over-month in the Northeast and South, were unchanged in the West, and declined in the Midwest. Demand in Michigan remains steady, Stockton said.<\/p>\n
Nationally, home sales rose in December, up by a half percent from November, according to the National Association of Realtors. But compared to December 2024, sales were down by 1%.<\/p>\n
The typical homebuyer is 60 years old and the median age for a new-home buyer is at an all-time high: 40, up from 33 in 2021 and 29 in 1991.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hardest issue is finding starter homes that younger people can buy. To finally hit 40 as the average first-time buyer\u2019s age is just crazy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Market shift<\/p>\n
Stockton said the current market is transitioning from one that favored sellers to a balanced market favoring neither buyers nor sellers, aided in part by lower interest rates.<\/p>\n
As of late Thursday, a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage loan was around 6.2% and the 15-year rate was around 5.6%. Few expect interest to drop below 6% this year, despite pressure on the Federal Bank by the Trump administration, he said.<\/p>\n
Karen Kage, Realcomp\u2019s CEO and a real estate agent for more than 40 years, said buyers are finding 10% more homes for sale in southeast Michigan this year compared to last year while Oakland County has 15% more.<\/p>\n
Oakland County\u2019s hottest markets include Novi, Northville and South Lyon, where builders are busy. Existing homes are selling in Milford, Highland and White Lake townships, Stockton said.<\/p>\n
Areas like Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills remain popular and lakeside homes are always in high demand.<\/p>\n
Home prices<\/p>\n
Southeast Michigan\u2019s median price for existing homes was $270,000 in December, up 5.9% over December 2024. Oakland County\u2019s median home price increased by less than 1%, to $360,000..<\/p>\n
\u201cThe buyers have a little more to chase,\u201d Stockton said, noting that less than five years ago, buyers were skipping home inspections and warranties to compete with a slew of other buyers.<\/p>\n
These days, he said, softer markets in Nevada, Arizona, Idaho and Florida are inspiring older homeowners who are weighing getting a good price for their Michigan home and taking advantage of better prices in what Stockon called \u201cthe sunshine states.\u201d<\/p>\n
In southeast Michigan, the number of homes on the market represent about three to four months of inventory, up from 2015, when the inventory was a scant six weeks. A truly balanced market requires a five-to-seven-month supply of homes, Stockton said.<\/p>\n
More homes for sale means sellers are now waiting on home inspection results, offering home warranties again and bargaining on prices more than in recent years.<\/p>\n
But in some areas, buyers are writing love letters about the home they want to persuade a seller to pick their offer.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s selling<\/p>\n
A refreshed kitchen remains a selling point, as does a newer roof.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe homes selling quickly now are updated and sharp,\u201d Stockton said. \u201cIf you have a house that\u2019s a little tired and dated, it\u2019s going to sit on the market for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n
But a motivated seller like Brouner will adjust the home price to attract buyers.<\/p>\n
Brouner, a healthcare analyst and mother of five, wanted a new home after her divorce was finalized but didn\u2019t have the time for significant updates.<\/p>\n
Anderson said it\u2019s important for sellers to be realistic about their home\u2019s value and the marketplace. Brouner had been watching the real estate market for 18 months before deciding to list her home. She and Anderson agreed to list the house for $449,900.<\/p>\n
Less than a week after the listing went online, offers poured in.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was pretty confident my house would sell but Jenn really helped me make the most money possible,\u201d she said. \u201cSelling is not as scary as everyone thinks. Find the right agent and they will guide you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brouner will start shopping for a new home with Anderson soon. She hopes to find a house with more land, room for her family and a price under $400,000 and she\u2019s being pragmatic about her options.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t mind buying a fixer upper,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The 2026 outlook<\/p>\n
\u201cI hate making predictions,\u201d Kage said. \u201cEverything could change tomorrow \u2026 Who could have predicted some of the things we\u2019ve been through in the last 40 years?\u201d<\/p>\n
She prefers to watch monthly home-sales figures and said two months of numbers gives a short-term peek into the future. The final months of winter can suggest how a season will progress. The second-quarter market is a better indicator, she said.<\/p>\n
The solid sellers\u2019 market pressed buyers into bidding wars, which Kage said raised prices to a point that challenges younger buyers.<\/p>\n
She believes more sellers are confident of getting a good price for their home and being able to find an affordable next home,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
A rise in the number of homes available has increased the average time on the market by two days, to 43 days, which has alarmed sellers and it shouldn\u2019t because buyers who have more choices are more confident in their offers, Kage said.<\/p>\n
Kage encourages buyers and sellers to work with a licensed real estate agent. They can help sellers find the optimum price for marketing a home and typically learn about new listings before they are published.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople say, \u2018Oh, I\u2019ll just check Zillow\u2019 but where do you think Zillow gets the information? They get it from us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Kate Brouner decided to put her six-bedroom, three-bath 3,590-square-foot Howell house on the market, she called the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159223,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[27255,143,904,145,144,77531,388,77532],"class_list":{"0":"post-159222","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-home-sales","9":"tag-oakland","10":"tag-oakland-county","11":"tag-oakland-headlines","12":"tag-oakland-news","13":"tag-open-houses","14":"tag-real-estate","15":"tag-realcomp"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}