It appears that after several years of a dismal real estate market, that things are finally turning around. The "buyer's market" of the past several years seems to be breaking and turning into a bit of a "seller's market." Whether this is a true seller's market or simply a more normal market it hard to say, but overall it is a sign of good economic health.
Some of the causes of the sluggish market seem to be fading away. For starters, foreclosures are down. These cheaper homes competed with others in the same neighborhood and drove prices down as the banks were anxious to dump their losses. The job market appears to be getting a bit stronger. Not that it is particularly good by historical standards, but it has been slowly improving. And finally, people finally seem to have found a little confidence in the long-term prospects of the area. Home ownership is a major investment and it does have a way of anchoring one the area. After all, if some one wishes to leave Michigan for greener pastures elsewhere but can't take a bath on her house, she is effectively stuck here.
On the other hand, the job market really is not great. And the jobs are not necessarily spread around each industry equally. For example, the legal job market is disastrous in West Michigan. And local government has laid off a lot of people and those jobs don't seem to be coming back. And because wages are still kind of low, prices on homes are not going to shoot up anytime soon. That is bad news for those whose house is underwater.
Only time will tell how long this lasts.
Ryan Maesen
www.maesenlawfirm.com
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