Southwest Michigan’s housing market was hit hard in May. The Southwestern Michigan Association of Realtors says the overall economic downturn caused by COVID-19 pushed local homes sales to their lowest level since 2006. Selling prices also dropped. However, association executive Alan Jeffries says, “Since our market has been robust for the last three years, we are expecting this to be a temporary disruption of home sales.” The realtors group says the number of houses sold in May dropped to 142, a 61% decline from May of last year. From April, it was a 27% drop. Year-to-date, the number of houses sold has fallen 27%. The average selling price in May was $240,000 compared to $264,000 in May of 2019 for a 9% reduction. With fewer houses sold, the total dollar volume fell 64% in May. The drop in southwest Michigan home sales happened as the national real estate market also saw a downturn.
