Housing prices in metro Detroit have been on a tear this year, jumping 7.2% in August compared to a year earlier as prospective buyers battled over fewer home listings, according to a leading price index released Tuesday.
The latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index shows that prices in the metro region — defined as Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, St. Clair and Lapeer counties — were up 83% in August from their bottom in April 2011.
Overall, prices in the metro region — which includes Detroit's harder-hit neighborhoods — were back to January 2007 levels and just 7% off their peak in late 2005 and early 2006.
But local real estate experts say that many houses outside Detroit city limits are already at or above their pre-recession price peak.
"Those properties were just so hard hit, and there are many of them, so it kind of skews those figures," said Realtor Jason Matt of Keller Williams in Plymouth.
Sale prices in the Plymouth, Canton and Livonia area were, on average, about $23,000 higher this September compared to last year and $19,000 higher for October, according to Matt.
"Those have come roaring back," he said.
Nationwide, the Case-Shiller index shows that prices were up 6.1% in August compared to last year. Seattle, home to e-commerce giant Amazon, saw the biggest year
over-year leap in housing prices at 13.2%.
“Home price increases appear to be unstoppable,” David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index committee, said in a statement.
“The ongoing rise in home prices poses questions of why prices are climbing and whether they will continue to outpace most of the economy," he said. "Currently, low mortgage rates combined with an improving economy are supporting home prices. Low interest rates raise the value of both real and financial long-lived assets."
A separate report by the Farmington Hills-based Realcomp listing service found the median sale price of a metro Detroit house or condo was $173,000 in September as the number of market listings for available homes was down nearly 30% from last year.
Houses were on the market for an average of just 28 days, down from 36 days a year earlier. Private sales and for-sale-by-owner transactions weren't included in the Realcomp report, which counts Oakland, Wayne, Livingston and Macomb counties as metro Detroit.
Realcomp CEO Karen Kage said she hopes the higher prices will convince more people who have thought about selling to finally put their house on the market, giving would-be buyers more options.
“We are lower than we’ve been (for inventory) in a really long time," she said.
Matt, the Plymouth Realtor, said the inventory of move-in-ready houses has slightly improved from its summer lows, "but there is definitely still a shortage."
"We are still seeing the buyers fighting over some of the homes," he said.
Contact JC Reindl: 313-222-6631 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JCReindl.
