FLINT, Michigan — Looking for a home in Genesee County priced between $70,000 and $120,000? It turns out, so are a lot of other people.
Area real estate agents say the market for mid-priced homes is extremely competitive right now.
One reason is there are fewer of them for sale, said Angie Ridley, owner and broker at Complete Realty in Grand Blanc Township. Mid-priced homes don’t stay listed for long because they are desirable to first-time buyers, she added.
“It’s like there’s no middle right now,” she said. “Either the foreclosure homes are very cheap and there’s work to be done, or you get into a higher-priced market. There is not a middle ground.
“We don’t have enough inventory.”
Pat Oakes, president of the Flint Area Association of Realtors, said about 4,500 homes typically are listed for sale at this time of the year.
But only 2,887 Genesee County homes were on the market in September, a drop of 13 percent from September 2010, according to Realcomp, a Farmington Hills-based multiple listing service.
“A lot of my clients that have equity in their homes, they’re all holding on to them,” Oakes said.
“What I see other ones doing is making a change now. One of my clients had a beautiful home in Grand Blanc, and it was sold in five days with a very good offer compared to the market conditions right now.”
The Rev. Joe Schulte put in four offers on homes before landing one in Goodrich. The 55-year-old is moving there from Yankton, S.D. He’s taking over as minister at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Grand Blanc.
Schulte said he’s searched for a home since July and is now closing on his fourth find. He said the 2,000-square-foot, two-story colonial home was right for him and his wife, Beth Miller.
“I was hoping to stay in the city of Grand Blanc proper, but then we expanded out to the city of Goodrich,” he said. “It just popped up and fit the bill.”
Schulte wouldn’t disclose his offer for the home, but said it was 5 percent below the asking price. He said he had been looking in the $150,000 range.
The mid-priced home shortage is a financial benefit to sellers, including Oakes’ Grand Blanc client. Average prices of nonforeclosed homes in Genesee County increased 73 percent from $52,000 to $89,999 from September of last year to this year.
Good homes in the mid-price range receive multiple offers and don’t last long, Oakes said. That often drives up the price, he added.
“It’s kind of been edging up somewhat,” he said. “It’s nothing really super strong to get people super excited.”
Oakes said despite the increase, homes are not back to where they were selling 10 years ago. The real estate market has a ways to go before it fully rebounds, he added.
First-time buyers have one of the strongest advantages in the market, Oakes said.
“Now, once again, you can go out there and start looking in the 40s and 50s and find some nice, decent homes,” he said. “Look and see what you have to pay in rent — a house payment is probably less.”
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