Health & Fitness
Free Press: Metro Home Buyers in Bidding Wars
Despite a five-year housing slump that flooded the market, finding a move-in-ready house in metro Detroit has gotten a lot harder with a tight supply sparking bidding wars among house hunters.
This article originally appeared in the Detroit Free Press on Oct. 16 and is written by Greta Guest.
Despite a five-year housing slump that flooded the market, finding a move-in-ready house in metro Detroit has gotten a lot harder with a tight supply sparking bidding wars among house hunters.
Many of the homes available are trashed foreclosures or owned by people who could not afford needed repairs or updates during the recession — and buyers are taking a pass. Add to that, people are not putting quality homes on the market if their mortgages are underwater or they are waiting for higher prices to return.
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That means a tight supply of good houses in good neighborhoods.
“As soon as anything hits the market, it’s a stampede to get there,” said Plymouth Realtor Andy Hargreaves. “It’s not uncommon for us to see five to eight offers on a good home.”
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The lack of inventory of move-in-ready homes is hampering the market recovery as demand in general slowly begins to rise, said Dan Elsea, president of brokerage services for Real Estate One in Southfield.
Rob and Kim Draper spent a year looking for a house in metro Detroit — traveling from Chicago on weekends to search.
“With the economy being bad, I just thought there would be a lot more houses,” Kim Draper said. “I was surprised with how fast they were selling.”
The couple eventually made an offer on a Northville home based solely on photos from a Realtor’s BlackBerry and positive reports from a relative who looked at it. They bought the 2,800-square-foot, four-bedroom house for $425,000 and love it.
