real estate » Joey Berger R E A LT O R Copyright: Dmitry Kalinovsky Oakland County’s Negotiating Specialist! 248-670-2514 jberger@kw.com 2109390 FREE DELIVERY NOW OPEN! Your NEW Neighborhood Pharmacy Franklin Health Mart Pharmacy FREE MEDICATION CONSULTATION 20 % OFF ALL CASH PRESCRIPTIONS! Franklin Health Mart Pharmacy 29113 Northwestern Hwy. DISCOUNT Southfi eld ALL NEW 248.355.1910 20 % PATIENTS OTC Medications I Blood Pressure Monitors I Diabetic Supplies I Immunizations I Medical Equipment 2070410 New Housing Permit Activity Unexpectedly Slows In May B ased on residential permit data compiled by the Home Builders Association of Southeastern Michigan (HBA), a total of 374 single-family and 70 multi- family permits were issued in Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair and Wayne counties in May 2016. In a month that histori- cally sees a dramatic rise in single-family permits from April, this year, the single- family permit total was more Michael than 7 percent lower than Stoskopf April 2016 and down over 13 percent from May 2015. “From an econometric perspective — on which HBA’s new housing per- mit forecast is calculated — there is no reason why permit activity shouldn’t be in the 500-permits per month range as far as May 2016 is concerned,” said Michael Stoskopf, CEO for HBA of Southeastern Michigan. “My conversations with new home builders in the region indicate that buyer activity has seemed to slow down earlier this year than in past years. That reduced activity and the strain on trade subcontractors to handle increased workloads seem to be the two primary reasons for the slowdown. “The single family permit activity that started 2016 out on its fastest pace since 2006 lost its momentum in May, now falling back to 2014 levels,” Stoskopf continued. “With that said, 2016 is still doing signifi- cantly better than 2015 through the first five months of the year, even with May’s slowdown.” With exactly 1,500 single-family home permits issued in 2016, the total is more than 10 percent higher than the five-month total in 2015. For multi-family permits, activity continues its tremendous growth with a total of 540 units issued thus far in 2016, an increase of nearly 40 percent over the same timeframe in 2015 (387). * MAY HOUSING PRICES Michigan housing prices are continuing to rebound but are still below the pre- recession peak, according to data from the Michigan Realtors association. The average housing price was $138,801 during the first four months of 2016, up 3 percent compared to the same time period in 2015, while the number of sales were up 8 percent. The average price of a home sold in Oakland County in May was $247,229. * WSJ NAMES DETROIT SECONDWORST CITY TO LIVE IN The Wall Street Journal, in its June 28 issue, named Detroit as the second-worst American city to live in; only Miami is worse, according to the newspaper. “The median value of homes in Detroit is just $41,900, less than a quarter of the national median home value. The incredibly low value hous- ing market is not an especially positive signal, and the economic circumstanc- es of many residents mirror the poor 000000 22 July 7 • 2016 health of the real estate market. Close to two out of every five city residents lives in poverty, roughly two and a half times higher than the national poverty rate,” according to the WSJ. *