Home sales begin rebound in southwest Michiganby Troy Kehoe (tkehoe@wsbt.com)
BERRIEN COUNTY — After more than a year of declines, home sales are suddenly on the rise. The Southwest Michigan Association of Realtors says there has been a big increase in sales. Existing home sales rose by 54 percent in March, and preliminary numbers for April look encouraging, too. But even with that huge increase, March sales numbers are still 7 percent lower than a year ago. "We have right around 15 month supply of housing stock on the market currently," said Gary Walter of the Southwest Michigan Association of Realtors. That's more than double the number of houses normally listed on the market. For the past 18 months, that number has only grown, but signs of a decline may finally be showing. Realtors are encouraged by the predicted increase in new first time home buyers, fueled by tax credits provided under the federal government's new stimulus package. "I think it's too early to say it's a turnaround. I think we're optimistic, cautiously optimistic, that things are starting to improve," said Walter. Things aren't framing out quite as rosy for home builders. New housing starts and building permits are both still near historic lows. For building material supply employee Jeff Kowerduck, it's the same old story. "The last year has been like 12 or 14 months of mid-winter. It's been very slow," he said. In fact, things have gotten so bad some builders have just stopped building. "Most builders in this area of southwestern Michigan aren't sitting on new homes, they aren't sitting on specs," said Kowerduck of the Southwest Michigan Home Builders Association. "Even the bigger builders are really feeling the pinch. Without the work there, we don't have an income." There are glimmers of hope here, too. Bids on residential construction projects are up in recent weeks. The reason? Lower housing stock. "If they're selling their houses, they're moving. And those people are moving up to buy new houses," said Kowerduck. The hope now, that it's all a sign of even better things to come. Both builders and Realtors admit: There's a long road to recovery ahead. Even optimistic forecasts point to the fourth quarter of 2009 before "normal profitability" returns. Most PopularMore Good Stuff |
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