By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com

As the effects of COVID-19 continue to be felt, the real estate industry, including that in Livingston County, continues to recover.

The latest report from Realcomp, Michigan’s largest Multiple Listing Service is out, tracking real estate data from both the past four months and from a year ago. After hitting deep lows in late March and early April, numbers show recovery is taking place amidst the easing of coronavirus restrictions. While much of the country was working on phased re-openings in June, real estate activity continued to strengthen.

Locally, in Livingston County, total sales between June of 2020 and June of 2019 are down 26%, but that is still better than the state average. Even though fewer sales occurred, the median sales price rose from $265, 550 last year, to $290,000 this year. That 9.2% increase is also higher than the state average. One area in which Livingston County is lagging, is the average days on market for homes. At this point last year, houses averaged being on the market for 31 days, but that number has now grown to 43.

Focusing more on the first four months of the pandemic though, shows even greater promise. Across the state, there was a 114% increase in June sales compared to May. Pending sales grew 3times and new listings more than 2.5 times compared to lows in April.

Max Holden of Tanner Friendman Strategic Communications said in an email to WHMI that these are interesting numbers across the board that showcase pent up demand.