Analysts Believe Kalamazoo Housing Market Will Regain Strength

Home sales in the Kalamazoo, Mich., area will remain fairly stable this year compared to other parts of the state and country, a seasoned real estate professional and statistician tells the Kalamazoo Gazette.

“Our rate of sales is pretty robust,” said Woody King, an associate broker and statistician for Prudential Preferred Realtors of Kalamazoo. “Even by my worst projections we will do better this year than in 2002 (when 4,443 units sold), and that was a really good year.”

He predicted that 4,200-4,300 residential real estate units will sell this year, an 8-10 percent decrease from 2006, when 4,654 units were sold.

He said he expects median prices to moderate to $128,000 compared with last year’s $134,000. Based on regional inventory levels that hovered near 3,275 in January, the average days on market before a sale will range from 110-120 days.

Using a market report compiled by the Greater Kalamazoo Association of Realtors, King presented his forecast on the current Michigan housing market.

He said unit sales increased slightly in 2006 for homes priced at $300,000 or more. And the area didn’t experience the housing market slump that in other municipalities led to inflated prices relative to local income levels.

His findings were supported by GKAR President John Jackson, who attended the meeting and spoke with a reporter afterward. Although inventory levels remain high, Jackson said, sales remain steady and buyers remain motivated by interest rates of between 6-6.5 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate Michigan mortgage.

That’s not to say the market is expected to spike in 2007, said King, who is a past president of the local Realtors association and a past president of the Michigan Association of Realtors.

King said he hears multiple complaints from sellers that their homes aren’t selling quickly enough and their listings aren’t generating interest from potential buyers.

That’s reflected in turnover analyses by Prudential showing that even with the cost of home mortgage loans remaining so low, current listings in the $100,000-200,000 range represent close to a year’s inventory.

“The average buyer has twice as many houses to look at as he did two years ago,” King said. “The problem is, they’re not looking at as many houses.”

SOURCE: Kalamazoo Gazette