Foreclosures and Short Sales Affecting Grand Rapids Housing Market
We have been tracking the activity on Short Sales and Foreclosures
of our local Grand Rapids market for some time. They have become
a large share of our housing market here in West Michigan and sellers
must understand the fact that they have to compete with this segment
of the market and will for the next few years.
Experts in the financial markets have written extensively about the
increase in foreclosures, last month figures were estimated to be 3
million or more homes that are facing foreclosure in U.S. in the next
6-12 months.
1) What are buyers looking for when they search for a home?
As you can see from the graph above, this is the order of importance buyers
put in their home searches:
- Square Footage
- Bedrooms
- Baths
- Price
Price is number 4 behind Square Footage, Bedrooms, and Baths. So, will a
buyer always go for the distressed sale home over the traditional sale?
Apparently not. We hear from our buyer clients over and over that they
DO NOT WANT TO DO REPAIRS or UPDATING. They want to purchase a
home and get on with their life – not devote 6 months to 12 months of their
spare time and money on painting, repairs and updating.
BUT Price is the ultimate point of competition.
Price is the only thing left when you have 30 similar homes on the market
competing for the same buyers. Supply and Demand will continue to rule
the real estate housing market in the foreseeable future.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
The authors of the this blog write about Grand Rapids Real Estate,
the Greater Grand Rapids MI area, and what it is like to live in West
Michigan. Grand Rapids Michigan is a vibrant, growing metropolitan
area with a diverse business community, great medical research & services,
numerous universities,plus lively arts and entertainment of all kinds.
We believe: Grand Rapids is a Great Place to Live!
Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids MI Real Estate
Contact Terry 616-292-7263