Decline in home sales in first six months of 2011 is attributed to first-time homebuyer tax credit expiration
The number of homes and condominiums that were sold in Washtenaw County in the first six months of 2011 was down 10.3 percent from the same period in 2010, according to the Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors.
But Charles Reinhart Company, a major local residential real estate brokerage, attributed the statistical decline to the impact of the U.S. government’s first-time homebuyer tax credit, which brought many buyers onto the market in early 2010.
Reinhart President Dave Lutton said in a report that he saw reasons to be encouraged about the local housing market.
The first-time homebuyer credits “expired last summer, but they inflated the first six months results for 2010,” Lutton wrote.
Reinhart reports that the number of sales it has that were pending at the end of June was up 8 percent from the same point a year earlier, and average prices were up 4.1 percent.
For the first six months of 2011, Reinhart’s sales were down 1.3 percent compared to the same time in 2010.
Nancy Merdzinski, executive officer of the Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors, agreed that the latest local housing market statistics look negative but should be viewed positively. She said July was “great,” too. “Residential sales were up like 29 percent over July of last year, partly because last year there was the federal tax credit that ended,” she said.
After following up with several Ann Arbor real estate firms, Merdzinski said “everyone’s numbers for July were very positive.”
Lizzy Alfs is a business reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at 734-623-2584 or email her at lizzyalfs@annarbor.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lizzyalfs.
Comments
Johnnyringo
Fri, Aug 12, 2011 : 4:11 p.m.
The number of homes and condominiums that were sold in Washtenaw County in the first six months of 2011 was down 10.3 percent from the same period in 2011--should be 2010
John B.
Fri, Aug 12, 2011 : 3:18 p.m.
Rah rah, sis boom bah. More cheerleading from the realtors. The ones that sue each other more often than any profession (that's right, even more often than lawyers!). My local home is continuing to decline in value. It has already dropped nearly 35% from the peak 2006 number, and appears headed for perhaps 50% of that. Ugh. Good thing I didn't buy at or near the top, I guess....
Townie
Fri, Aug 12, 2011 : 2:18 p.m.
This article seems more eager to be nice to local realtors than actually state facts and draw some realistic conclusions. Why not just publish the press release from the AA Board of Realtors and just forget even trying to help their spin? Just look at some of these spins: ''...statistical decline...', '...reasons to be encouraged...', 'should be viewed positively.', 'everyone's numbers from July were very positive.'. Sorry, but I'm feeling nausea at this point. Please drink the Kool-Aid and keep humming 'Don't Worry, Be Happy' to yourself. Yeah. Time to just step back and say 'what can we do to get people employed again, get wages up and encourage people to have the money to think about buying stuff'. Instead it's all about the 'deficit' and how we have to cut everything in sight. Wonderful approach and strategy -- if you want to continue a huge Recession and push us toward a longer one. Herbert Hoover all over again. With the same results.
BobbyJohn
Fri, Aug 12, 2011 : 6:26 p.m.
The economist from the Realtors' board is always the most optomistic of any economist. It's all about HYPE
John B.
Fri, Aug 12, 2011 : 3:19 p.m.
So true....
KJMClark
Fri, Aug 12, 2011 : 3:54 a.m.
Not so much "REAL SMART" as "WEALTHY". Something tells me that a president at Reinhart and executive officer at the Ann Arbor Board of Realtors aren't counting pennies. Corporate profits are doing just fine, and presidents and executives are sharing in the wealth more than the rest of us. And weberg is right, whatever the numbers, real estate agents are inclined to spin them as positive. After all, "there's never been a better time to buy!", or something like that.
John A2
Fri, Aug 12, 2011 : 3:30 a.m.
They were not positive for my houses
xmo
Thu, Aug 11, 2011 : 11 p.m.
The reason why the numbers were better in 2010 was that we were in the "Recovery Summer" that President Obama and VP Joe Biden proclaimed. Now we are in the upward swing of the economic recovery but only the "REAL SMART" people can see it. Most of us just aren't that smart but if we were, we would see the economy booming along with the housing market.
a2grumpy
Thu, Aug 11, 2011 : 10:53 p.m.
The title of this article should read "Decline in home sales in first six months of 2011 is attributed to first time homebuyer, tax payer funded subsidy expiration"
weberg
Thu, Aug 11, 2011 : 10:24 p.m.
"...he saw reasons to be encouraged about the local housing market" "....agreed that the latest local housing market statistics look negative but should be viewed positively" How about a more balanced range of opinions on the local housing market? These people pluck any kind of data to spin the market in a favorable way... this unchecked optimism is partially why we found ourselves in a financial crisis. I don't know anyone who purchased property in the area from the 2000-2007 era that feels favorable about their real estate situation.
faypatri
Sat, Aug 13, 2011 : 12:59 p.m.
Weberg - I bought my house in 2007 in a2 and now I am looking to sell it for a profit. Mark that down in your data. These real estate agents will do anything to sell a house but hey, thats their job/livelihood. There has never been a better time to refinance!!