Good News for West Michigan Real Estate Market as Distress Sale Numbers Continue to Plummet!

The demand for homes once again outpaced the amount of incoming inventory in West Michigan.  Current housing inventory levels hover around a four months supply.  Distress sales have also remained lower than in recent  years.  In fact, the numbers observed in distress sale activity are also a factor in the decreased inventory supply.  These trends are serving to stabilize the housing market which had witnessed a tremendous free fall in recent  years.

This is good news for the West Michigan real estate industry.  While we are not out of the woods yet, the general trends seem to indicate movement in a positive direction.  As we head into the fall months,  there is more evidence that 2012 may be the year in which the market turned for good.

Read this article for more information about Home Prices on the national level, plus data from the National Association of REALTORS.

*Distress sales data is obtained from the Grand Rapids Association of REALTORS.  The numbers are deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

In Between the Cracks…

A burst of fresh green against the dilapidated fence

In starker contrast to the carefully manicured lawns and hedges,

this fence was clearly in need of attention.

Yet, despite the obvious decay, life was peeking in between the cracks.

Vigorous life, unrelenting in its ability to create vitality in spite of challenge.

Unwilling to yield to sordid staleness

Reaching out to delight the gaze

Of  anyone willing to notice.

On Life…

Over the past few days, I’ve had a few thought provoking conversations with colleagues.    The tumult that engulfed the real estate industry has had a profound impact in the lives of many of us…personally and professionally.  Everyone handles crisis in different ways.  And this was most clearly demonstrated by two conversations in two days.

As we exchange minor pleasantries during my first conversation, my colleague asked me how I was faring.  That’s a question fraught with a certain amount of angst for many in the real estate community due to the realities of distress sales and the frustration of dealing with increased levels of stress and incompetence.  I remarked that I was hoping that if I treated ‘Life’ kindly, she would respond in kind.  My colleague remarked on the fact that the advice he gave was, ‘treat ‘Life’ harshly and she will treat you kindly.  Very different philosophies…

The second conversation was with a colleague who I knew to have taken ‘Life’ by the bull horns.  A spirited soul who always sparked response and even sometimes a little controversy mixed in.  We hadn’t talked in awhile and I was glad to catch up.  As we talked, it became clear that this individual has gone through the crisis in a different way.  Gone is the anxious spirit and intense drive.  It has been replaced by a graciousness that allows life and its circumstances to move through without disrupting the internal peace.  The drive to succeed has been replaced with compassion and a desire to care for the family.  Definitely has me re-thinking
today…