Case Shiller July: Football isn’t the Only Positive for Detroit

More on Detroit a little later, suffice it to say that while the Detroit Lions have been staging quite a comeback, so has the Detroit real estate market.

While there’s still high level uncertainty in the economy and consumer confidence is shaky at best, the housing market is holding on to four straight months of overall price increases for its 10 and 20 City Composites. Both were up 0.9% in July over June.

Key July ’11 take-aways include:

*  17 of 20 key markets were up over June ’11

*  Las Vegas and Phoenix were down and Denver was unchanged from June ’11

* Two markets were up versus July 2010: Detroit (1.2%) and Washington DC (0.3%).  Both were up versus June 2011 too with Detroit +3.8% and Washington DC +2.4%

* Overall, the 20 key markets are down 4.1% versus July 2010 but as mentioned earlier, up 0.9% over June ’11

* Las Vegas is not the city to bet on right now; it posted a new index level low in July and is now 59.3% below its August 2006 peak

Now back to Detroit…how about those Lions?

* Detroit posted the largest June ’11 to July ’11 gain at 3.8% and this comes after posting the largest May to June gain at 5.8%. Good things are happening in Detroit, and it’s been a while coming.

Even though the Minnesota Vikings lost to the Detroit Lions in OT this past weekend, Case Shiller had some good news for Minnesota fans as well:

* While the Minneapolis market is still faring the worst out of 20 markets July ’11 versus July ’10, after 3 consecutive months of double digit annual declines, the July 2011 vs July 2010 decline in the Minneapolis market slowed to 9.1% which a welcome sight after the 10.8% decline in the June year to year comparison.

* July ’11 saw a 2.6% increase over over June ’11 prices in the Minneapolis market after June saw a 3.5 % increase over May, so further indication that the Minneapolis market may have turned the corner.

In other recently released national housing statistics, August single family starts were down slightly at 2% below August 2010, but existing home sales were up 20% in August 2011 vs. year ago.

Just released August numbers for Steamboat Springs are showing the 2^nd highest Gross Sales Volume of the year and mid September pending sales are 73% higher than the pending sales in mid July, and the highest total number of pending sales in over a year.

Overall the recent real estate numbers are cautiously optimistic, and that’s to be somewhat expected given we’re still reporting time frames where seasonal demand should warrant increases. But after a rocky first quarter start to the year, it’s good to note that the first month of the third quarter is off to a positive start on the heels of a second quarter that saw a 3.6% rebound from January-March Case Shiller data.

—For more information on buying real estate or questions regarding Steamboat Springs real estate or renting a home in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, feel free to call Charlie at 970-846-6435 or write me an email at: charlie@steamboatsmyhome.com.

Thanks,

Charlie