Photo Source: Pinterest via Milorganite.

New Home Sales came in strong despite low home inventory and higher selling prices. Sales of newly-built single-family homes in the US grew 6.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 689K in May. That’s up 14.1 percent from May 2017. This is the highest level of sales in at least eight months and proving buyer demand is strong.

Home prices rose 6.4 percent in April according to the recent Case-Shiller Home Price Index report tracking changes in the value of residential Real Estate. The Detroit area is above average, showing an 8.6 percent annual increase. Once again, Seattle, Las Vegas, and San Francisco saw the largest gains and were also the only three with double-digit year over year changes.

Lawn care tip: don’t forget to fertilize. Keeping your lawn flourishing and green contributes to that all-important curb appeal, and a homebuyer’s first impression starts before they even enter the door. In the North, fertilizing twice in the spring and twice again in the fall spaced 6 to 8 weeks apart is recommended. Confused about what fertilizer to buy? Most people are. In most cases 15-15-15 or a balanced fertilizer will work just fine.

It doesn’t hurt to spend the extra cash hiring an expert for those “fix it yourself” repairs if looking to sell a home, in fact, experts recommend it. If the job isn’t done right, it can cost more money down the road hiring someone to fix those botched “fixed” projects. Those DIY projects experts highly suggest avoiding: major drywall repair, HVAC, dishwasher installation, tree removal, siding and window fixes, advanced electrical, roof repairs, and plumbing. If your DIY skills are more advanced then congrats on the savings and good luck.