Good news for a change to start the new year...

A recent article in the MCAR magazine showed increases over 2007 for January... Good news for a change. Also note the most affordable communities in the country info ... all posted in the article below.


January residential sales in Macomb County showed an 8.5 percent increase in sales over the same month in 2007, according to recent figures. Leading the charge among municipalities with 15 or more sales: Roseville, with a year-to-year boost of 42 percent. Also showing year-to-year increases: Macomb Township (27 percent), Eastpointe (23 percent) and Warren (16 percent). Of those, only Macomb Township experienced an increase in sales volume (a modest one, at just over 1.5 percent). Shelby Township saw a 19 percent decrease in sales year-to-year, and Clinton Township’s sales dipped 7 percent.

In Oakland County, Troy sales posted a 22 percent increase year-to-year among municipalities with 15 or more sales. Troy was recently listed as one of the most affordable U.S. housing markets with a population of 500,000 or more in a report from the National Association of Home Builders; the city’s median sales price for January was $217,500. Orion Township’s sales increased 17 percent in the same timeframe, with a 4.5 percent increase in sales volume. Listings for the county, meanwhile, rose a modest 0.5 percent.

About that affordable housing markets list: not only did Troy appear in the 500,000 and up category, so did Detroit and Grand Rapids. In a separate category of markets with fewer than 500,000, even more Michigan communities appeared: Saginaw, Monroe, Bay City, Lansing, Flint, Battle Creek and Kalamazoo. In terms of affordability, Michigan is the best-represented state on the list. The least affordable state? California.