Grand Rapids, MI topped the December 2015 list from Ralph McLaughlin of Trulia.com (owned by Zillow). On December 9, 2015, Trulia released the list of “10 Hot Real Estate Markets to Watch in 2016.”
According to the study, “Each city was examined for affordability and strong job growth, plus other factors including vacancy rates, to determine which areas are contenders for growth in the year ahead.”
Full Article Here at Trulia.com, which includes the full list of top 10 markets.
Here’s an opinion piece I wrote that was published in the rapidian, in response to the article Just Out of Reach: Housing Prices Climb on Grand Rapids’ West Side
Excerpts:
Everyone agrees, 2015 was a crazy year for Real Estate in West Michigan. Why, to what extent, and how that affects our market are questions that are less processed and understood. Here, I’ll share some analysis and interpretation, to add perspective and to assist with drawing some conclusions. I’ll start broad and finish by examining the elusive “West Side” of Grand Rapids.
2006 Sales
2006
Number of Sales: 83
Average Time on Market: 72 days
Average Sale Price: $92,468
Median Sale Price: $92,900
Low/High: $35,000 – $155,000
2014 Sales
2014
Number of Sales: 83
Average Time on Market: 35 days
Average Sale Price: $80,876
Median Sale Price: $81,000
Low/High: $13,500 – $233,600
2015 Sales
2015
Number of Sales: 82 (As of 12/14/15)
Average Time on Market: 36 days
Average Sale Price: $91,873
Median Sale Price: $84,950
Low/High: $19,000 – $325,000
This beautifully renovated Fairmount Square Historic District home is located in one of the most exciting local districts for both housing and entertainment. Character abounds with original woodwork and beautifully refinished floors, but the real story is the gorgeously redone kitchen outfitted with Ikea soft touch doors and drawers but faced with custom-made cabinet faces. Main floor laundry, plumbing, insulation and electrical is all modern, something you’d only see on this block in a $260,000 condo of the same size. Walk to some of the hottest restaurants and nightlife in town, and just a coast to downtown Grand Rapids. Everything is in excellent shape, come see this unique, maintenance free and affordable home today!
Grand Rapids Real Estate. This charming Dutch Colonial all brick home sits conveniently near Ottawa Hills but comes without the price tag. You’ll immediately notice the gorgeous freshly refinished hardwood floors and freshly painted main floor. The kitchen was renovated with care, complete with a center island, updated appliances, and a nice powder room for guests. Charm and character abound in this home, from the screened in porch that overlooks a fully fenced back yard, newly refinished hardwood floors upstairs, to a comfortably carpeted master bedroom. This home comes with the convenience of a large 2-stall garage, and an additional finished recreation room in the basement. Schedule your showing today!
Congrats Matt and Gracie on the closing of your new home, and the soon-to-be new Fulton Street location of Freshly Squeezed Print Shop! It has been a complicated journey to an incredibly promising future. Hopefully you’ll have a place to put this guy sooner than later!
Mid-Century Michigan is a project documenting mid-century modern homes in East Grand Rapids and the surrounding areas.
Forbes recently ranked US cities based on current market prices as compared to what Local Market Monitor deemed an “Equilibrium Price:”
“choices were ranked primarily on four factors: population, home prices, and the local jobs economy. Each of our Best Buy Cities have high population and job growth, relatively low home prices, and are still considered under-valued…
“The key to coming up with this list is a proprietary measure that Local Market Monitor dubs the “Equilibrium Home Price.” Basically, it tracks what the average price for a market should be, if speculation, weird distortions in local income, and other factors (like the housing collapse) weren’t present in the market. The measure presumes that prices will eventually return to this level. When homes are far under the equilibrium price, investors are getting a good buy and can expect to make a good return. The other important consideration for investors is, of course, a healthy local economy. After all, there is zero point in purchasing a home in a market where the population is fleeing. That’s why Best Buy Cities are places where opportunities are growing.
Here’s an excerpt from a great article about West Michigan’s economic recovery published last week in Rapid Growth GR.
Here’s the follow-up article about wages, which suggests an across-the-board wage increase to invest in our local economy.
“Household income is up, nearly 10% in the last year alone. We’re almost caught up to the national average in household income. But apparently that’s not good enough for local pundits.
“Home sales in the Grand Rapids area are at a record high. Homes (listings) on the local real estate market are at an all time low, at about 2.9 months of inventory (ask your Realtor what that means). We’ll give you a hint: homes priced competitively are being snatched up at a breakneck pace. Homebuilders are seeing a pace of construction they haven’t seen in about 6 or 7 years. But apparently still not good enough.
“Apartments in the Grand Rapids metro area are, according to many sources, going on waiting lists. Downtown developer 616 Development has reported that they have close to 800 people on a waiting list for the 50 or so apartments they have under development. Suburban apartment complexes are reporting similar situations. Still not good enough.”
More here.
According to this article from CNN Money, the housing market has recovered to the point of around 2003, which is actually not too bad considering 2006 is widely-accepted as the peak of the real estate market. We wont be seeing 5-7% annual increases any time soon like we were predicting back then, but many economists are predicting a small 1-2% increase from this year to next.
Jaw drop lately? 60 Minutes explains one reason for delays behind economic recovery.
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