Halfway through December, the 2022 YTD average sale price of a single family home in our 5-County Southeast Michigan Region is $307k. That’s up 31% from 2019 and 5% compared to last year. The Monthly Sales and Average Price chart illustrates how both sales and prices fluctuate in seasonal patterns. In recent years, we’ve had consistently high demand with sales limited by a shortage of supply. The monthly sales chart shows the annual rising of sales and prices through the first half before fading off during the balance of each year.

Today’s buyers want and will pay more for move-in-ready homes. Because the best listings sell fastest and for the highest prices, until this year, the annual drop in average price in the second half of the year has had more to do with the general drop in the quality of available inventory than declining values. Since June’s market peak, this year’s challenges of higher interest rates, higher housing prices, non-housing inflation, combined with the post-pandemic easing of extreme demand has caused sales and prices to settle faster than they normally would. Despite current challenges, strong but fading demand had November’s YOY average sale price of $291k up by just 1% compared to the same month last year. Expect YOY averages to become negative over the next few months. Over the next few months, expect to see more price reductions. Sellers who don’t get a quick hit should reevaluate their home’s condition and price.