ST. JOSEPH ­­— The area housing market in Berrien County and the western half of Van Buren and Cass Counties is moving at the same pace as a year ago.
“In most areas, the numbers varied less than a percentage point,” said Gary Walter of the Southwestern Michigan Association of Realtors Inc.
“The notable differences were the total dollar volume down was 3 percent, the average price was down a little over 2 percent and the median price was down 12 percent.  This is a small margin of change and could suggest that the market is maintaining a more stable environment.” Walter said.
While the association reports that two more houses were sold in Setember as compared to last year, 17 more homes have been sold than at this time in 2010.
Nationally, existing-home sales were down in September on the heels of a strong gain in August, but remain well above a year ago,  according to the National Association of Realtors®.
According to the National Association of Realtors, total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, declined 3.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.91 million in September from an upwardly revised 5.06 million in August, but are 11.3 percent above the 4.41 million unit pace in September 2010.

Who is buying?
• Investors purchased 19 percent of homes in September, down from 22 percent in August; they were 18 percent in September 2010.
•First-time buyers accounted for 32 percent of transactions in September, unchanged from August; they were also 32 percent in September 2010.
“In the Southwest Michigan market, we held the number of bank-owned or foreclosed homes as a part of all closed transactions to 29 percent.  In August the percentage dropped to the lowest point for the year at 26 percent.  This percentage peaked in March at 47 percent,” Walter said.
The mortgage rate in Southwest Michigan in September was 4.17 down from 4.32 in August. According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage fell to a record low 4.11 percent in September, down from 4.27 percent in August; the rate was 4.35 percent in September 2010.
NAR President Ron Phipps, broker-president of Phipps Realty in Warwick, R.I., said access to credit is unbalanced.
“All year we’ve been discussing the fact that many creditworthy home buyers are being denied mortgages,” he said. “On top of that, loan limits have been lowered, which means buyers of higher-priced homes, including many in more expensive housing markets, now have to pay a higher interest rate for a jumbo mortgage than buyers who can qualify for a conventional loan. We need to remove the roadblocks to a housing recovery – not place more obstacles in the way of financially qualified buyers.”