The article can be found here:

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/new...tion/22202417/

I doubt this is news to anyone on this board. Only 138 completed sales for all of 2014. The auction program hasn't faltered, it's a disaster.

The houses offered at auction require so much work, that the labor and expense necessary to make them habitable can't be justified. Prospective repairs of a house in a decaying neighborhood, with nearby homes either tax-distressed or in foreclosure, won't increase appraisal values enough to justify any type of loan.

As the News article further states:

"Part of the problem rests with the appraisal process, since comparisons are being based on homes sold nearby, often times at values that are disproportionate. That, Fahle said, is the primary reason that some deals have fallen through". . .

"In 2014, there were 10,000 recorded residential purchases in Detroit. Of those, only 462 were bought with a traditional mortgage. The rest, Fahle said, were cash purchases."

If Duggan and the council are serious about making land-bank auctions a success, the properties offered can't be a week ahead of demolition. The city will also have to make financing far easier to obtain.

However, I'm in favor another solution in this cash-poor city. Make it possible for the current occupants to stay in homes facing tax foreclosure. The last thing the city needs is another 25,000 vacant and decaying homes. The only beneficiaries in this case will be the scrappers and the wrecking companies.