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 Hey, I'm Steve Volkers, and this is the Steve Volkers report of the Grand Rapids Real Estate Market Data using this fancy booklet that Big Kev puts together for us each month. This is gonna be talking about the month of April. I don't even know how to say that, Kev. It can't be. It can't be May, but it is, and the sun's out today and it's 70, so we're loving it.

So this month's data, there's gonna be a couple of themes that I'm gonna, that I'm gonna talk about. Ultimately, it is all over the place in my mind, just based on offers and what I'm doing with clients, but then also trying to figure out what the data tells us. So, My word of the week is fickle.

I should probably Google that to make sure it's the right word, but. Ultimately for me, buyers are fickle, is what I'm saying. And so what we're seeing in the marketplace, and we'll talk about the data, trying to prove that out a little bit, is that buyers are very narrow in what their wants and needs are right now.

And if it doesn't fit within that narrow structure they're passing those homes or they're not making offers on those. Um, and then. They are spending all their time and resources all going after the same thing cuz inventory is still very low. So you have 20 or 30 offers on one house, or even 10 offers on one house where the house just up the street might actually be a really great house, similar price point or similar area, but because it's not cute enough, it doesn't get all the attention.

Right. Um, and so we'll talk a little bit about that, but I say buyers are fickle. The other thing we're seeing is price points are very much driven by where the market's going right now. So what I'm saying is anything under 300 is still very active. There are a lot of first-time home buyers who still also moved down buyers where they're moving from out of state, moving here for grandkids or for just a great place to live.

So we're seeing that as well. Um, and so your, your under 300 is still very active. Once you get above four, it gets a little tighter and not as many people are in that pricer point right now. Um, it's sort of like this middle line that they're just, they haven't found a, a need to sell their home to move up to that, that it's not a, a big enough move for them to take that initiative to get outta their low-interest rate home.

And then it's weird too because some of the stuff in the suburban areas that are in the five and sixes are also sitting. So it's like we've got a bottom market and then you've got a really active luxury market right now in our area. It's gotta be well done. You can't put on a semi-luxury property that's 30 years old or 20 years old that has all the old roofs and uh, countertops.

But it if it's updated or if it's been built in the last five to eight years, and it's in that luxury above a million category, there actually seems to be multiple buyers buying in that price point. You know, all the way up right now. So what we'll talk a little bit about is that fickleness in regard to the data.

But what we're seeing is this like downward, but then you're also seeing a little upward pressure all of a sudden. So we are down for all the major categories, right? Sales 28% so far for the year down month over month versus the five-year running average. We're down 29%. Year-to-date closed transactions are down 23%.

Year to date, closing transactions from March were down 12%, right? Year to-date sales volume is down 10%. That's a significant one because we have not seen that in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 years. This is the. The first year in five years that we've seen the volume or the price, the total amount of money out at the door is less than it was for a five-year stretch.

That is because of inventory. But it still is pretty significant to see that happen. Last year we just barely squeaked by, but a median sales price was up 11%, so that is up, right? Which is weird. Where you've got pricing is still up. Off just on a volume to equal it. But one thing that that is starting to show is in a percentage or no number of houses on the market, all of a sudden that we're starting to see the spring market happen, where lots of homes are coming to the market.

So last April it was 774. This April it's 1012 homes on the market to sell. So we are up compared to last year this time, and we're almost breaking even from the year before that. And then it shows that in another graph too. Price per square foot is up still. Where was that one? Number of showings for listings is up.

The list price sale price average is 2% above. So that is up, right? But monthly Surprise made that, that check-up, right? And so we're down listings per month last year, but we are at only sales of last month were 656 sales and there were 847 new listings. So that. This is a pretty big number.

200 isn't a big number, but in reference to the data, what we're seeing to have that stretch, that's what I'm talking about when I'm saying buyers are fickle, right? They are not buying um, everything up. Right? Last year, this time, everybody was rushing for the interest rate issue, right? So, let's see, last year, this time, This was April of, uh, 22.

It was where we spiked to 5% interest rates, right? The month before that was 4.2, and the month before that was 3.8. So this was the time period in these three months where it went from, you know, very little money to all of a sudden expensive. And so what we saw last year at this time is everybody was trying to close the deals that they had with interest rates that they had locked the month before at the 4%, right?

So what, we don't have that anymore. For the last six months, it's been pretty steady between six and 7% interest rate. That's pretty healthy. Everybody's generally understanding it. Um, but with that, then that affordability issue, which we've talked about Kevin quite a bit, is, is there, right? And so if someone's gonna move from their 3% interest rate starter home into the next thing, there's gotta be something that forces that issue, right?

That inventory will sell, that starter home will sell too but the middle is where we're struggling. Where that buyer that's in that starter home has to have kids or lump something in life change to get them to change that monthly price that they have to go to the other. Right? So let's just say they bought a, in the last five years, they bought an Alger Heights house as an example.

They probably bought it around 200 or so, and they're at a 3% or three-and-a-half percent interest rate. Their payments are like 1100 bucks. Like that's cheap money, right? They're living on like really great money cuz their incomes have risen for the last five years. Well, they go to look in Byron Center at a $600,000 house and yeah, they've got, now they can sell that house for 300 or more.

So they can put 20% down probably from using the equity in their house. But even with 20% down. Guess what, all of a sudden now they're into a 3-4 grand monthly payment. And that's a big lifestyle change. They have to have the income to support that. They have to be willing to live that lifestyle and maybe ratchet down some other things.

That's a big jump from $1,100 to 4,000. And I think that's where we're seeing the buyers are fickle. They need it to be. Perfect. They do not want to move into something that needs new carpet. They don't want to move into something that needs to be repainted. They both are working. You know, if it's a couple and it's family move into the suburbs, they're both working to support $4,000.

You don't usually support $4,000 a month on one income. You can, but it's pretty hard. Right so that's where you're seeing these homes that are in the 600s and stuff sit a little bit longer, or they're just buying new construction. They're just saying, no, I'd rather, you know, this is not a big enough spread for me of buying a 600k.

I might as well buy a 650k new. To not have to deal with it kind of a thing. So that's the cracks in the foundation. I think that's where our market is gonna, is gonna putter along for the next couple months where we're gonna see a spike in some of the medium pricing because that lower end will continue to sell.

We'll continue to drive pricing up, but that mid-level sort of four to seven is just gonna sort of, if it's not great, it's gonna sort of take three, you know, a normal time, 30 days to sell, maybe 60 days to sell. You know, they're gonna have to lower price a couple times from where their appraisal might have even come in when they got the equity line, you name it.

So, What I tell you, if you're a seller, do all the things right. When you're talking to myself or Rachel or anybody in our crew here, if they tell you to paint the outside, take the extra week to paint the outside power wash. You know, you name the things like if they say, you know, we really should paint the walls.

We really should look at putting new carpet in. That investment is key. You really do want to invest in your home to make that work. You're no longer because of interest rates being higher, you're no longer gonna skate out on someone saying they'll just do the work. I need a house like it. It the price is too high.

They need a house that's ready to move into. So gear house ready to move into buyers. We're still seeing success. Yes. We lost out on one that was listed for three 30 and buyer and center. And it went over 400 in cash with 40 offers. So there are still 39 people out looking in that price point. So there's still, there's still competition, but what we're actually seeing is if you're willing to do the little bit of the painting maybe some carpet, there's some really good deals out there and people are willing to sell 'em.

And you might only compete with one other offer instead of the 39 on the super cute HGTV house. So we'd love to take you out. It's Steve. Thanks so much.