Detroit Metro Home Sales Up, But Prices Plunge (median price drops to $9,250 down 57%)

[Purveyor]

Driven down by sales of foreclosed homes, median sale prices fell 34% in metro Detroit in September compared with a year ago, dipping below $10,000 in the city of Detroit.

The median price on a house or condo sold in Detroit last month plummeted 57%, to $9,250, from $21,250 a year ago, according to figures released Monday by Realcomp, a multiple listing service based in Farmington Hills.

Foreclosures represented two-thirds of sales in Detroit in September, and they boosted sales by 81% as buyers laid claim to 1,019 homes.

For the wider metro area, the median sale price was down 34%, from $129,000 a year ago to $85,000 last month.

"There's tons of properties out there that investors are snapping up and that skews the numbers," said Joy Santiago, a Southfield-based real estate broker. "You can't say in the city of Detroit that the values are down, because many areas are strong, like Indian Village and Palmer Woods. They are a little bit more stable."

Sales are picking up, she said.

"People have to start realizing there are awesome deals out there, and it is just the time to purchase," Santiago said. "September for me, in the past 10 years, has been slow, but it was my best September ever."

MORE...

Detroit Free Press: http://www.freep.com/article/20081014/BUSINESS04/810140340

[aquart]

1. Under $10,000 for a HOUSE? With indoor plumbing?

[AlCzervik]

3. does it have walls?

[bigtree]

2. home prices falling 57% is a double-edged sword

[AngryAmish]

4. They need to get rid of housing inventory the Detroit way - Devil's Night

Many years ago Detroit instituted the civic holiday known as Devil's Night. This is a autumnal celebration at the end of October where the people of Detroit come together as a city and burn each other's houses down.

This year an especially energetic Devil's Night would help unburden the city of much of it's excess housing stock. In one or two nights the median price of housing will go up because simple supply and demand. Burn about 10,000 housing units and that means there are 10,000 fewer places for people to live, meaning more people will be bidding on fewer housing units, driving the price up. Housing crisis solved - the Detroit way.

[Batgirl]

6. "Housing crisis solved - the Detroit way"

Thanks for this, I mean even though it's based on old information and even though the acts of vandalism have been drastically reduced since the mid-90s -- it's always good when somebody can muster the resolve to say crappy, insulting things about Detroit ... kick 'em when they're down ... go you ... etc. etc. :thumbsup:

[BootinUp]

5. At that price maybe we should buy some and tear them down.

Plant grass and trees.

[Hannah Bell]

7. I've often thought that metro detroit was being taken down in the interest of

eventually buying it up at firesale prices. Excellent location, lots of beautiful properties.