Area seems to be weathering the storm
MARQUETTE -- We hear every day about the housing crisis in this country, but new figures released Wednesday show that the Marquette area, at least, seems to be weathering the storm.
In 2008, the Marquette area saw a 1.6 percent increase in the median sale price of a residential home.
The study, done by the real estate appraisal firm, Closser Associates, looks at residential sale numbers in the city and its surrounding townships.
"We didn't have a bubble to begin with,” said Closser Associates President Bruce Closser. “We didn't have really strange mortgage instruments going on here; we didn't have grossly inflated real estate prices to begin with."
Bottom line, the market was flat last year, which is good compared to the rest of the country. The national median price in 2008 of existing homes fell 9.3 percent in 2008. In the Midwest, that fell by 6.7 percent. Even in the North Central U.P. (Alger and Marquette counties), the decline was 1.1 percent.
That doesn't mean it hasn't been tough for the Marquette area. Houses are staying on the market longer. In 2008, the average selling time was 186 days, an increase of 48 days from 2007.
Total sales in the Marquette area have also decreased, down 22 homes in 2008 compared to 2007.
With fewer homes being sold, there was a dramatic increase in the number of homes listed for sale. The average number of homes for sale at any given time was 246, a 24 percent increase from 2007 and the highest since 1988.
Still, not all realtors saw the same results.
"Personally, my sales were about the same last year as they were before,” said RE/MAX Realtor Terry Huffman, “but the prices are down a bit."
Heading into 2009, it could be tougher with the economy and expected shutdown at Cliffs mines. But realtors and appraisers are optimistic of a housing recovery in the year ahead.
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