The Dearborn and Dearborn Heights market – superheated like much of the overall residential real estate market for more than a year – is cooling off.
But not much — at least not yet.
Sales for the combined Dearborn-Dearborn Heights market in May topped the year-earlier month by half a percent, according to Realcomp II Ltd. Separately, the Re-Max Housing Report showed a decline of 0.6%.
“Is it bad? No? Is it moderating? Yes,” said Robert Marx president of the Dearborn Board of Realtors and an agent for Century 21 Curran & Obserski on Ford Road.
Marx and others say the real estate market is less volatile these days as buyers and sellers digest still-unfolding changes in interest rates, consumer prices and other economic indicators.
Yes, it’s still a highly competitive market with deals distinguished by many showings and multiple offers, often above the asking price.
But the market is becoming more manageable, if still highly active.
“We are still seeing a strong housing market, with relatively quick sales amid continued strong demand from buyers,” said Jeanette Schneider, president of Re-Max of Southeastern Michigan.
“There is a slight shift occurring in the market, with some buyers stepping back due to the rising interest rates leading to fewer multiple offers on homes, but this is welcome news to buyers who have been bidding a super-competitive market for a couple of years.”
Marx, a real estate sales veteran of 21 years, pointed to the sale of a home he handled in Dearborn’s historic Park neighborhood.
The two-story Colonial drew 30 showings and 10 offers, and sold for $260,000 – some $30,000 above the asking price.
At the height of the pandemic-influenced housing market, the house might have drawn 50 showings, Marx said. Still, the outcome was swift.
“The market is coming off a huge high, and it’s not normal yet,” Marx said. “It’s heading in the normalcy direction.”
Matt Kelly, a Dearborn High School graduate now living in Kentucky, said he and his older brother, R.J. – a Fordson graduate living in New York — decided to move as fast as possible to sell the home left by their late stepfather.
“Time was of the essence,” Matt said, referring to what he anticipates as a softening real estate market.
The three-bedroom, 959-square-foot house in the Outer Drive-Monroe neighborhood, was listed at $159,900 and attracted several dozen showings and nearly 10 offers, he said. The brothers accepted an offer for $165,000, but agreed to pay for some repairs to the garage floor, he said.
“We feel fortunate to have sold while the market is still going strong,” Matt said.
Karen Kage, chief executive of Realcomp II Ltd., said modestly improving inventory levels are “welcome news for the marketplace.”
“As the summer season continues, it will be interesting to see if this is the shape of things to come,” she said.
Dearborn data
Highlights of the Dearborn and Dearborn Heights market, based upon May sales data:
• Prices. Median prices in the combined market increased 5.7% – to $203,000 — in May, compared with May 2021, according to Re-Max. Realcomp said median prices rose to $205,000. The median price was $230,000 in Dearborn and $176,000 in Dearborn Heights, Re-Max said. Realcomp said median prices increased 5.6% in Wayne County.
• Home sales. Compared with the year-earlier month, Re-Max said, total sales in May for the combined market declined 9.6% in Dearborn – to 94 – and increased 13.6% in Dearborn Heights, to 75. Realcomp said total sales declined 4.6% in Wayne County.
• Listings. The combined Dearborn-Dearborn Heights market ended May with 185 homes listed for sale, a 7.5% decline from May 2021, Realcomp said. Listings increased 20% in Wayne County, Realcomp said.
