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Intriguing.

I believe, if we asked most folks in our community, what was the real estate market like for Plymouth, Michigan, many folks would say that it was horrendous.  Unless, of course, they happened to have purchased their home in 2010.  The general feel from the market in 2010 was that prices were depressed, still falling and that nothing was really being sold.

But is that the reality?

Plymouth Michigan Real Estate Stats | 2009 v 2010

Here’s how 2010 compared to 2009 in Plymouth, Michigan.

Original List Price

Sellers in 2010 felt that their homes were worth a little bit more than in 2009.  The original list price is the first price a seller offers their home for sale to the market place.  In 2010, homeowners asked nearly 4% more for their homes in 2010, than in 2009.

Average Sales Price

While sellers asked for nearly 4% more in 2010, the average sales price jumped 5.1%.  That’s right, you saw that correctly… The Plymouth, Michigan average home sales price jumped 5.1% in 2010, compared to 2009.

Of course, the following thoughts that everyone is now having is, “Why?”  Why did Plymouth’s average sales price jump over 5% in 2010?  I have a few ideas, but let’s complete the review of the charts above.

Average Price Per Square Foot

In 2009, Plymouth, Michigan homes that sold averaged $103 per square foot.  In 2010, this price per square foot average jumped to $107.  Not a huge increase, by any stretch of the imagination, but an increase nonetheless.  The main cause for this jump, I believe, is the average square footage of the homes sold in 2010: 2,340 square feet.  This is up from 2,087 square feet in 2009.

In the end, this might be the reason why the average sales price in 2010 was up over 2009.

Average Days on Market

The average days on market for a home sold in 2009 was 120 days.  In 2010, the average time a home was on the market was 95!  Nearly a month of time on market was slashed from the average in 2010.  This is great news for sellers in Plymouth, Michigan!  This means that it took one month less for sellers to sell their homes in 2010.

Number of Homes Sold

For me, this final chart is the kicker.  The number of homes sold in Plymouth, Michigan actually decreased in 2010, compared to 2009!  There were 42 fewer homes sold in 2010, a nearly 12% decrease in homes sold, compared to 2009.

When the number of homes sold in a given year drops, there are usually other indicators that also drop as well.  But in 2010, it appears that

In Summary…

The numbers that jump off the spreadsheet at me are the Average Sales Price, the Number of Homes Sold and the Average Days on Market.  The average sales price and average days on market should give homeowners looking to sell, a bit of hope.  A hope that things are actually beginning to turn the corner, albeit gradually.  Homebuyers in Plymouth should likewise be hopeful.  These numbers mean that there is interest in the Plymouth marketplace and that other buyers and, importantly, banks, see value in our marketplace.

The glaring number in this stack of figures is that the total number of homes sold in 2010 was down!  I would have expected that with overall sales prices up, that the number of units closed in 2010 would also be up.  Every month in 2010, the average square footage (sf) was 2,000 sf or greater.  In 2009, 8 of 12 months posted square footage over 2,000 sf.  It goes without saying that greater square footage in a home equates to a higher sales price.  I would submit that the higher amount of square footage, along with the perceived desirability of being in Plymouth, is what is responsible for the modest year over year gain in average sales price.

Regardless of what you may hear on the evening news or national broadcasts, ALL real estate is local.  Yes, I am familiar that the most recent Case Shiller Index showed further price depreciation and that they expect 2010 to be the worst housing year on record.  Keep in mind that those are national figures and that 50% of the nation is better than those figures and the other 50% of the nation are worse than those figures.  Let us simply be satisfied that we appear to be a part of the 50% above the national averages.