2011 Detroit Polar Plunge

The 2011 Detroit Polar Plunge for Special Olympics is fast approaching!!! It will held on Saturday, February 19th at the Milliken State Park which is just east of the Ren Cen on Atwater (see video of site here). We hope that you will consider joining us and others for an invigorating dip in the balmy waters of the Detroit River. This years’ Plunge will be the largest ever in the state of Michigan with 500+ plungers and over 1,000 people in attendance. As always, it will be a fun and festive event including a post-plunge luncheon with awards and recognition. Special Olympics expects to raise over $175,000 this year to help people with intellectual disabilities participate in sporting events and activities that have a huge positive impact on their lives.

Stuart Elsea says, "The last 4 years running, Real Estate One has had the #1 Plunge team in the entire state. Last year we had 25 plungers who raised over $27,000!!! We are looking for even more plungers this year so we can stay #1 again. It may sound crazy to jump into 35 degree water in February, but actually it’s a lot of fun and really very safe. I have done it 3 times myself and I’m looking forward to a 4th time this year. It should be on everyone’s “Bucket List”!!!"

There is still time to sign up to jump!

The Real Estate One Charitable Foundation is represented by the following for 2011 -

Tom Barretta

Troy Bergman

Laurie Brooks

REO TEAM DUKE

Candice Elliott

Stuart Elsea

Doug Hibbing

Ann Lamphier

Al Melfi

Suzanne O'Brien

If you'd like to make a donation on behalf of any of these daring individuals, please click their name and follow the instructions. Every penny counts!

For updates on this event and all things Michigan Real Estate, become a fan of Real Estate One on Facebook by clicking here.

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December 2010 Michigan Real Estate Market Update

December Pending Sales were at a relatively strong pace, giving the Michigan real estate market more momentum going into 2011 than we had into 2010. Overall we are seeing what appears to be a trend towards a stable market in terms of inventory levels and sales pace. It is also a reasonable window into what we can expect in 2011, an active buyer market with sales near 2010 levels (possibly slightly lower without the tax credit help of 2010). The months supply of inventory (MSI) is still running over 6 months, putting the market on the Buyers side, however it dips closer to 5 months in the under $100,000 range, but still over 24 months in the over $500,000 range. Which means price appreciation is still a year away for the lower priced areas and more for the higher priced markets. So, should buyers wait? As we have said many times, it is pretty clear we have hit the market bottom, and although appreciation won't be taking off soon, interest rates will certainly rise, as they have already. A 1% rise in rates wipes any savings from a 10% price drop and it is far more likely that interest rates will rise by 1% than values will fall by 10%. Also, with an FHA loan, buyers will lock in a low interest rate that is assumable when they sell their home. In five years, a 4.75% rate will make your home more saleable when the rates are at 6.5%.

Also, keep in mind that there are thousands of former homeowners, who were forced to sell and now lease and whose credit is now repaired and ready to take the homeownership plunge. In the most recent NAR surveys, the vast majority of people who lost their homes due to financial hardship are still looking to own another home first chance they get.

2010 was the fifth year of our “new normal”, where most sales required 2-3 negotiations (to the buyer, the appraiser, the lender) and considerably more time. We worked extra hard, but there has not been a time when we have been needed more by our clients. Through it all we closed more transactions than ever before in our 81 year history!! We are one of only five brokers among the Real Trends 500 to show an increase in sales associate productivity! We worked hard for our clients and it showed in our collective success rates.

Click here for December's Market Stats.

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U.S. Home Prices Weaken Further as Six Cities Make New Lows - According to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices

Here is the latest (October) S&P Case-Shiller market report. It shows that the national real estate market as a whole has seen declining home values over the past 90 days. That is not surprising coming off the end of the Tax Credit boost. They do reference the potential beginning of a "double dip" decline at a national level, since the country hit bottom in 2008, bounced up in 2009/2010 and is falling back again, in terms of values and increasing inventories. Rather than a Double Dip, what we are seeing and will continue to see is a recovery that will be "bouncing off the bottom" for quite some time, with each bounce down not as bad as the last. It will be tough to follow this "bouncing ball" recovery through the media, since each decline will be met with predictions of disaster and each bounce up, predictions of great recoveries. It will be neither, just the slow progress of a housing recovery based on a slow economic engine. We are definitely in the perfect Buy Zone and have been for two years and will continue for the next year or more as well. So for Buyers, keep focused on the long term value of homeownership and buy when you find the right home, otherwise the day to day market noise will drive you crazy.

The Detroit real estate market showed a decline as well in Oct vs. Sept, which we also confirmed in our MLS numbers, based on closed sales (also true for the rest of the state as well). But what the Index does not show is that Pending sale values have stabilized (the most current market data) and our home inventories, different from other cities, are down significantly, giving us a better base to manage the "bouncing" than most of other cities/states. Detroit's value index is the lowest of the cities in the composite, meaning our values have fallen the most (69% of 2000 values vs Los Angeles at 170%) but our economy is not proportionally that much worse than say California, meaning our affordable values are drawing proportionally more home buyers into the market which helps explain our improving activity compared to many others (for every basket of lemons there is always some lemonade!).
This does mean however that since lenders do watch the CS Index, appraisal standards will remain tight until the lenders can see a consistent appreciation trend.
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