Grand Rapids home sales grow in April

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - The Grand Rapids real estate market had another good month with a sales volume increase of 21 percent in April. This is compared to April 2008, according to the figures prepared by the Grand Rapids Association of Realtors.

The percentage of houses on the market that sold in foreclosure, as both percentage of total sales and total sales dollar amounts, has dropped for the fourth consecutive month.

"Another bright spot in the local housing market is that most areas are showing signs that the housing prices are slowing their decline," GRAR President Greg Carlson said in a statement, "And I believe that it is a partly due to the combination of low mortgage rates and the $8,000 first-time-home-buyers stimulus."

The number of total active residential listings remains virtually unchanged from at 9,016 in April compared to 8,982 in March.

The overall median single-family home price has slipped slightly to $73,500 from $79,000 from last month.

Home sales have nearly doubled from 593 in November 2008 to 1,021 in April.