The Elementary School & Square Footage Equation in Ann Arbor Real Estate Values

When talking about real estate values in Ann Arbor,  people usually talk about the market in general – which doesn’t give the real story.  One trend that I’ve been watching is the price per square foot of sold homes in the different elementary school districts in Ann Arbor. By looking at the attached graph, you will notice that there are large variances  in both price per square foot of sold homes , as well as the change  in values from 2005 to 2009.    We can begin to see that certain areas of the Ann Arbor real estate market are beginning to recover.

All School Districts - 2008/2009

Ann Arbor Market Change in Last 12 Months

One exciting trend to notice is that homes in the Angell, Lawton and Lakewood school districts have actually seen an increase in value over the past year.  Values in Dicken have remained the same over the last year, while the other 14 districts still recorded a drop in value.  The largest drop in value occured in the Mitchell with a drop of 18% over the past year.

For all of Ann Arbor, prices have dropped  6.63% over the past year, based on MLS data on price per square foot.  Five districts did better than the market, and 13 districts did worse.  The average price per square foot in Ann Arbor was $131.07/SF.

Ann Arbor Market Change in Past 5 Years

Looking back 5 years, prices have dropped anywhere from  -40.52% in the Mitchell school district, to a low of -7.02% in the Angell school district.

For all of Ann Arbor, prices dropped 24.82% over the past 5 years, with 7 districts faring better than the general market and 11 faring worse.

  Average sales prices based on $/SF    
  2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Chg 05-09 Chg 08-09
MITCHELL $150.81 $142.76 $134.01 $109.73 $89.70 -40.52% -18.25%
ALLEN $159.51 $146.25 $131.76 $117.06 $109.32 -31.47% -6.61%
EBERWHITE $210.80 $197.58 $184.98 $170.70 $151.59 -28.09% -11.20%
ABBOT $161.31 $167.13 $158.91 $134.33 $116.53 -27.76% -13.25%
LOGAN $165.51 $151.53 $132.66 $128.19 $123.28 -25.52% -3.83%
BRYANT_PAT $164.48 $160.69 $146.11 $129.31 $122.72 -25.39% -5.10%
NORTHSIDE $186.03 $173.24 $152.27 $170.80 $139.81 -24.85% -18.14%
ANN_ARBOR $174.35 $170.90 $154.22 $140.37 $131.07 -24.82% -6.63%
HAISLEY $182.93 $176.04 $153.00 $145.02 $137.89 -24.62% -4.92%
CARPENTER $130.62 $125.69 $115.58 $104.93 $99.58 -23.76% -5.10%
PITTSFIELD $140.05 $135.53 $126.66 $115.81 $108.85 -22.28% -6.01%
KING $177.96 $181.99 $149.57 $146.00 $140.46 -21.07% -3.79%
LAKEWOOD $163.26 $155.87 $140.11 $124.40 $130.74 -19.92% 5.10%
WINES $188.75 $185.93 $163.97 $159.69 $151.81 -19.57% -4.93%
THURSTON $151.56 $153.14 $135.94 $128.64 $123.75 -18.35% -3.80%
DICKEN $166.85 $159.21 $156.14 $138.87 $138.34 -17.09% -0.38%
BACH $214.21 $213.64 $201.85 $192.92 $177.88 -16.96% -7.80%
LAWTON $153.50 $145.71 $136.20 $122.62 $132.00 -14.01% 7.65%
ANGELL $235.61 $223.22 $208.75 $213.63 $219.07 -7.02% 2.55%

What causes these variances? Generally, it’s supply and demand. In the districts where demand is strong, inventory is low, which cause prices to firm up.    In the districts where we’ve seen the largest drop in values, we are also seeing a higher number of foreclosures.

When looking to purchase or sell a home in Ann Arbor, you can’t generalize.  You need to look at what’s happening in the school district that you are wanting to buy or sell in.

With the market constantly changing, feel free to call Martin Bouma at 734-761-3060 or email him at bouma@bouma.com for an update in the area that you are interested in.