Report: Metro Detroit home prices have nearly doubled since 2011

Metro Detroit home sale prices rose 5.6% in 2019 from a year earlier and finally surpassed the region's pre-recession peak, according to the latest real estate data.

And some of the biggest price jumps happened in the city of Detroit.

A new year-in-review report shows the region's median sales price was $190,000, up from $180,000 in 2018. Of those home sales, 15% were condominiums and 85% were non-condos, according to a report released Wednesday by the Realcomp listing service, which doesn't include private sales or for-sale-by-owner transactions.

That upward trend underscores a separate finding that, beginning last spring, home prices across the metro region eclipsed their previous price peak set in late 2005 and early 2006.

That finding, captured in the closely watched S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index, also showed that prices here overall have nearly doubled from their lowest point since the recession in 2011.

"We have seen some steady growth over the past few years," said James Cristbrook, president of the Greater Metropolitan Association of REALTORS and owner of Shain Park, REALTORS in Birmingham.

"We have noticed that in some markets, at some price points, we’ve seen a lack of inventory, which has given sellers a bit of an upper hand," he added.   

Sellers in metro Detroit received 97.4% of their home's list price last year, according to the Realcomp report. Realcomp defines the metro Detroit market as Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Livingston counties.

"What people are getting for their properties is so close to what they’re asking for," Realcomp CEO Karen Kage said. "That’s awesome news for those who are looking to sell."

Big jump in Detroit prices

The city of Detroit experienced some of the biggest increases. The median sales price jumped 23% year-over-year to $43,063, according to Realcomp. The median was just $20,000 as recently as 2015.

However, those sales numbers from Realcomp did not include the many vacant home sales done by the Detroit Land Bank Authority.

The land bank sold a total 2,629 properties last year, up from 1,815 in 2018, and saw the average sale price for its live auction homes rise 9% to $8,350. Nearly all of the properties were houses. 

For boarded-up houses in the land bank's Own It Now program, sale prices rose 33% last year to about $1,600. And the average sale price for the Rehabbed & Ready program is up to about $120,000.

"Candidly, this was a banner year," land bank Chief Financial Officer Reginald Scott II said. "It demonstrates that there is a lot more demand just across the board for housing in the city of Detroit.”

Back to 'normal'

On the suburban housing front, Realtor Jason Matt of Keller Williams Realty in Plymouth described last year as a "stable" one.

"It seemed like the first year in a long time that was really normal; we didn’t see the high highs or the low lows," Matt said.

“This year was nice for the buyers because they had an opportunity where there weren't as many multiple offers and homes that were going over appraised value," he said. "Yet for sellers, the prices were still strong enough where they seemed very satisfied as well.”

However, agents said there is still hot demand, high competition and limited inventory for entry-level suburban homes, which are generally considered homes priced at $175,000 and below. 

Overall, the total number of sales in metro Detroit was down 1% from 2018, according to Realcomp. The inventory of for-sale homes also was down slightly and the average number of days on market for a listing was 35.

ContactJC Reindl: 313-222-6631 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @jcreindl. Read more on business and sign up for our business newsletter.