A Sign Of Recovery? The Rising Demand For High-End Homes

On Sunday, Dec., 30^th, the Detroit Free Press featured a front page article about the rising demand for high-end homes, mainly the $1,000,000-plus market. There were 148 recorded sales of $1,000,000-plus residences in Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties in 2012. That is a 66% increase from a year ago and the highest number sold at that price point since the Realcomp multiple listing service organized the million dollar- and-above category in 2003, the article pointed out.

Realtors boosted sales at the high end of the market with high-earning business people in finance, automotive and health care industries as well as people relocating from places like Chicago and New Jersey as the Michigan economy continued to rebound. All but 16 of the sales were in Oakland County, including the chart-topping $4.5 million dollar deal in Bloomfield Twp.

Real estate insiders attribute the 2012 high-end boom to a number of factors that proved just as true for the lower-priced homes in the suburban market including low interest rates, slimmer inventories of for- sale, move-in ready homes and the realization by sellers who swallowed their pride and gave up on the idea of what their home was worth before the economy took a downturn.

The rise in high-end home sales has also been good news for the builders of high-end homes. There has definitely been an increase in building permits.  In Bloomfield Twp. alone, building permits issued in 2012 were up 22% from the past year, which saw only a 7% increase from the previous year.

New home construction and remodeling projects are very apparent as you drive through the neighborhoods in Bloomfield Twp. and Bloomfield Hills. This speaks to the willingness of buyers to consider the option of building what they want in a new home, instead of settling for an existing home.

As a builder of custom high-end homes, we at Robert R. Jones Homes are pleased to see the resurgence in new home construction. For information on our homes and availability of homesites, please visit our website at http://www.rrjh.com/.