Quote Originally Posted by archfan View Post
Missing out might be a factor, but there is still a lot of caution by people who have seen upticks in the city; they always seemed to end with things worse than before. There may be enough momentum now, but there's always the fear that it will get crushed again by a bad economy, nosedive in auto sales, bad governance, or Dan Gilbert getting struck by lightning.
Fair enough but if I may drop another overused saying, this time is different.

-Detroit is still well below price levels of most if not all cities of similar size
-Unprecedented capital inflow and investment
-Population drop bottoming out
-Security expanded
-Low inventory compared to only a few years ago
-Occupancy rates in the 90%'s
-5 years @ ~30% pa appreciation in downtown and immediate surrounding areas
-Hotel and hospitality explosion
-Education and medical facilities increasing
-Public transportation expansion
-Historically low interest rates

If this is all just a fluke or happenstance, then a correction would have to unwind progress the city has not seen in over 50 years. I don't think so. IMO, the high water mark has yet to be set. This is why I say for many of those doubting the sustainability of this latest resurgence and prefer to sit on the sideline waiting for the correction, will either be waiting a long time or finally snap and pay whatever it takes for a piece of the new Detroit. This is the frenzy wave that catapult prices into the stratosphere. They then will revert from trash talkers to cheerleaders whilst the smart money slowly exits.

On that note, think about this. As long as the majority is on the wrong side of the bet, which I believe they still are regarding the sustainability of Detroit's turnaround, then you know there's plenty of upside remaining. It sends a clear signal that we are far from overpriced RE and good deals can still be found.