As Detroit's hot housing market continues to thrive it's still in a negative cycle.

[illwill]

It's no secret that property values have increased in the city of Detroit. Properties are selling fast and even experiencing multiple bids. As a person who wants badly to see Detroit's comeback, the way it's happening isn't such a good thing.

We hear/read in the news that houses are selling fast in Detroit but what we don't hear is these homes are STILL mostly being purchased by investors. Many coming from outside of the region. This is nothing new of course and one of the major factors for us having a high number of cyclical foreclosures. Most homes are not being bought by people who are living in them. They're being rented out for a quick buck. Detroit still remains a "house flippers market."

In my opinion, if Detroit is ever going to stabilize we need more owners in these homes than renters. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against renters but in Detroit, home ownership is what will save this city. Home owners take pride and have a vested interest in the community as oppose to a renter, most of the time.

Detroit is much different than Chicago or New York where a majority of those residents are renters. Those cities are made up mostly of multi-unit dwellings. Detroit [[obviously a huge city of single family homes) was built for families to live and that makes us unique to this very day from other big cities. That's how Detroit will thrive. Detroit MUST find ways to allow QUALIFIED owner-occupants the first right to purchase these homes before investors who are simply in the "flip" game or who'll rent homes to any Harry, Dick and Jane just to get a body into the property.

I think the Detroit real estate market will peak VERY soon because quality of life issues will continue to suffer due to lack of homes being purchased mainly by owner occupants. The city needs to be more aggressive in with this issue.

Any thoughts?

[Bham1982]

The renter/homeowner dynamic has less to do with housing stock and more to do with market preferences. There's nothing preventing a single family area from being a renters market or a highrise, multifamily area from being an owner's market.

Most of Detroit isn't going to be a logical place for owner occupants for obvious reasons. Why would someone buy and live in a typical Detroit neighborhood?

[illwill]

I'd guess that thousands of people probably tried to bid at this past tax auction and were out-bid by wealthy investors. I would also guess that there were probably thousands of discouraged people who would have tried to bid, had they known they might actually had a chance before the wealthy investors artificially drove up prices.

Yes, the city will make top dollar at the time of the bid, but it leads to a never ending cycle of turnovers. I think it’s better to take a loss off the top and make up for it in the long run. By letting people who have a vested interest in the city get first dibs. People who will actually live in these homes for years to come. Allow them the opportunity. Allow business owners and entrepreneurs the opportunity to buy store fronts or warehouses to start-up a business at an affordable entry price. These types of individuals will stabilize the city. They’ll hold onto these buildings forever, occupy them with new and creative businesses and create jobs.

If Detroit is TRULY supposed to be a city that innovates, then let’s do things sensibly. Instead of destabilizing our neighborhoods and having properties constantly being passed from hand-to-hand, let’s think differently and stabilize our communities.

Shoot! I bet the County can barely keep up with how many times these properties have been flipped and foreclosed.

[Detroitdave]

The Detroit Land Bank is set up for owner occupants/ owner to renters, Not for flippers.
and they can't buy several at one time.
The Wayne County Auction is a mess ! 90% of the properties go right back into foreclosed status.
Wayne County is one of the City of Detroit's biggest problems.
Their policies are bad for Detroit in my opinion.
The don't secure their properties they sell as is ,without a pre-sale inspection so people don't know what they are getting into, they sell properties with people still in them.
I'm mean it's just a mess !
Its not prefect , but at least the Landbank is doing a much better job in my opinion.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Clean up the crime, and they will come back.

[Shai_Hulud]

Are we talking about the Wayne County Auction or the land bank? The land bank does seem to have investors scooping up some of the better properties at higher prices, but average houses are still very attainable.

The Wayne County auction needs a complete overhaul.

[ABetterDetroit]

As long as we allow every legislator from the local to the state level treat property taxes as the slush fund go to option for increased spending at all times this is the result.

You think we would have learned by now with a chronically underperforming real estate market, blighted abandoned worthless property, speculators that hold on to ruined eyesores for decades. Most importantly a endless cycle of throwing people out of their homes creating more of all of the above.

Dealing with all these issues is a very expensive cost that all of us bear while at the same time stifling a major economic engine in this state in residential construction, home improvement and housing services.

[illwill]

The home prices in the Land bank are overly inflated as well. What they're doing is putting lipstick on a pig. They need to overhaul the system and set some updated rules in place.

[Scottathew]

I was not able to sell my first home in Warren. It's now an "investment" that I don't want. I had a rental inspection recently and the inspector said that 63% of home in Warren are rentals now. I find that hard to believe, but he would know.

Home ownership is down big time, and not just in Detroit. It will take a while, but hopefully the trend will slowly reverse.

[Richard]

They tell everybody that the younger folks are not buyers and are happy to rent so why the difference.

I think the problem is,and it was pronounced in the boom,was in the past the market was starter homes then move up as the family grew.

Get married and you buy a small starter home,1 bedroom two max,live in it a few years and first child is born then a bit more sell the house using the equity to buy a larger house.

That process got skipped,first time buyers wanted to jump into that 4 bedroom 200k house right from the start,they made it easy for them to do that.

So then they were stuck in the live for the house verses building long term equity,a bump in life comes along and it is gone and back to the start.

I think Detroit is no different then any other city right now,you have islands of price growth and others that are stagnant,it is like that all over the country.

The land bank could try and I believe they are already doing,it is offer incentives,tax breaks,no interest,low interest loans and even rehab grants for home buyer that are actually going to live in the house.

It would be speculation to say if one went to the land bank as a family looking for a residence to purchase,I would think some houses would come off of the listing market.

They are kinda like a one stop shop in that way,I would not believe they could actually advertise or say that without the realtor association saying something.

The city knows it is in their best and the public's best interest to offer these and do what it takes to get them into permanent residents hands.

I look at the county auction kinda like a buy here pay here car lot,they sell the house at auction,repo it and sell it again,making their money on the sale aspect,I guess through the years they could sell a house twenty times for $2000 providing it is not burned to the ground.

It is not their money they are playing with,but given the scope of things,I kinda think they are doing and trying to do what they can in the best interest of the city as best as they can.

Investors or speculators are going to do what the market pays,if the market has more looking for rentals that is what you will see,if you could buy and flip that is what you would see more of.

http://www.thehulltruth.com/dockside...yesterday.html

[illwill]

Reforms pushed for $500 foreclosure auction

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2015/10/21/wayne-county-auction/74370158/

Land bank to sell properties to occupants for $1,000:

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/new...ants/74292160/