August is Dream Cruise Month

The dog days of summer are here. Not sure how yours has been going but ours is zipping by fast. Bella has been with us for over a month now and we're enjoying every minute of her visit. She has overcome her dislike of the pool, she's becoming a pretty good golfer (just need to work on her take away a bit), but she misses her daddy. He exits the Army 9/11/08 and will be home within a week of that date... we all can't wait.

Woodward cruise is just around the corner (8/16)... can't wait, maybe we'll see you out there.

As for real estate... my business has picked up quite a bit with the help from your referrals. I appreciate the opportunity to help your family and friends. Below is an excerpt from MCAR's August magazine. I thought it explains pretty accurately the current state of our real estate trends. There's also a link at the bottom of the article to the actual MCAR website. If you copy and paste this link to your tool bar http://www.mcaronline.com/default.asp?id=16 and scroll to the bottom of the page there are two PDF files you can download that show actual stats for June '08 vs '07. as well as the second quarter numbers for both Oakland and Macomb counties. It lists the info city by city. Thought you might be interested in seeing whats happening in your neighborhood.

Again thanks for your referrals, Kelly & I aprpeciate the business.

Dave

Now for the article:

For just the second time this year, sales figures for Oakland and Macomb counties in June posted negative numbers. Oakland’s overall sales were down almost three percent compared to June 2007, and Macomb’s overall sales dipped almost two-and-a-half percent. It’s still an improvement over the 2006-2007 timeframe, when sales in the two counties dropped 10 and 11 percent, respectively.

Of the Oakland municipalities that posted the greatest sales increases,* the top three – and five of the top seven – had a median sale price in the five-digit range:

Oak Park sales increased 61 percent (median sale price: $40,000)
Southfield sales increased 45 percent (median sale price: $71,000)
Pontiac sales increased 37 percent (median sale price: $19,500)
Both Novi ($266,345) and White Lake Township ($200,000) saw higher median sale prices, but then Hazel Park ($29,500) and Waterford Township ($99,950) contribute to the affordability parade.

Speaking of Novi, it was the only municipality in June to experience a decrease in listings and an increase in sales, sales volume and median sale price.

Oakland municipalities that experienced sales drops included Rochester Hills (down 37 percent), Birmingham (down 32 percent) and Orion Township (down 27 percent). Interestingly, though sales were down, the median sale price in Birmingham increased 52 percent (to $432,500).

Macomb municipalities* experiencing year-to-year increases in June sales included:

Shelby Township, up 16 percent
Macomb Township, up 12 percent
Sterling Heights, up five percent
Macomb municipalities that experienced sales decreases included Washington Township (down 20 percent), St. Clair Shores (down 17 percent) and Roseville (down 15 percent). Just like Birmingham in Oakland County, Washington Township experienced a sales slide while the median sale price increased, this time by 20 percent.

* Among municipalities with 15 or more sales.