Brandon Twp.- Area home sales followed the national trend and continued to drop sharply according to a report released last week.
The eighth straight downwardly revised forecast from the National Association of Realtors, a trade group for real estate agents, predicted last week that U.S. existing home sales would be 10.8 percent below last year as housing market woes continue.
Locally, home sales and values sagged in Brandon and Groveland townships along with neighboring communities. In addition, days on the market were up in the first eight months of 2007 compared to 2006 according to the report from RealComp.
While home sales seem rather bleak, at least one area real estate professional emphasizes it’s a great time to buy a home.
‘This is the best buyers? market in 29 years,? said Sharon Williams, owner of Real Estate One Professionals, Ortonville.
‘You can buy more with your money right now than five years ago. Not to mention you have a great selection of homes to choose from right now.?
‘Until all the defaulted homes come on the market and are sold out, the market has not hit bottom. Right now 50 percent of all sales are with a foreclosure or distressed sales.?
Todd Graham, Oxford Bank Executive Vice President, said that while sales have slid over the past few years, housing activity has picked up this fall.
‘We are starting to see more sales out there,? said Graham. ‘October will be one of our better months. Many of the problems with the housing market in our area stem from several factors’including unemployment and underemployment, rather than sub-prime loans. People just are unable to make that house payment and sometimes just drop off the keys to our office rather than go through repossession. The reality is homes right now are at a lower value.?

Area Average sale price (Days of mkt) Homes sold
2006* 2007** Change 2006* 2007*
Brandon Twp. $233,550 (115) $199,900 (173) -14% 72 58

Groveland Twp. 236,500 (110) 225,000 (178) -5 % 19 16

Independence Twp. 243,287 (144) 225,000 (154) -7% 201 223

Oxford Twp. 239,950 (117) 220,000 (165) -8% 122 98
** January-July; *January-August . Data supplied by RealComp.