3rd mo of increased home sales expected

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Home sales in the Grand Rapids area are expected to be up for the third straight month when numbers are formally released Friday.

It would be the first time the area has seen three months of increased sales since the 2006-07 real estate market downturn.

Grand Rapids Association of Realtors CEO Julie Rietberg told 24 Hour News 8 Wednesday estimates show 11 to 12 percent more homes were sold in the region in April 2009 than in April 2008. That comes after year-to-year increases of 19.6 percent in March and 2.1 percent in February.

It might be a sign of a rebound in the metro area's real estate market: Kent, Ionia and Montcalm counties as well as southeastern Ottawa County and northern Barry County. But prices are expected to continue to dip because of the large number of homes for sale. Rietberg calls that "normal in a market recovery."

The uptick in sales is an unsurprising trend to real estate agent Kevin Yoder.

"I had the best March I've ever had," said Yoder, of Keller Williams, who has worked in real estate since 2002.

He recently sold a home in Grand Rapids' Alger Heights neighborhood after just eight days on the market. After 11 showings, four would-be buyers made offers. Some even were higher than the asking price.

"Very surprising," said Leslie Horton, the home's former owner. Horton told 24 Hour News 8 she was worried about putting a home up for sale in this economy.

"[We were] trying to beat all the other houses and make sure that our house showed as well as it could possibly show knowing that it was a really tough market," she said.

Horton and her husband did get more than their asking price, but they took a loss on the home they owned for five years. Lower prices meant the couple got a better deal on their new home.

Yoder said their old home sold quickly because it was in move-in condition, priced right and marketed aggressively.

He said despite a possibly rebounding market, multiple offers is not the norm, though Rietberg, of GRAR, said her office has seen signs that more homes are yielding several bids.

"We can kind of gauge that by the number of phone calls we get from angry buyers who think 'something's wrong that I didn't get this house,' " Rietberg said.

She attributes the increases in unit sales in part to the recently passed $8,000 new homebuyer tax credit.

And the GRAR CEO has one more positive number: The percentage of homes sold that were in foreclosure or short sales continues to decline, a possible sign of a return to more normal market conditions.