Sg9018 Member Username: Sg9018
Post Number: 228 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 1:27 pm: | |
Detroit,Dearborn, Warren and Livonia is on the top of the list for one of the most affordable cities in the nation. National Association of Home Builders did the study. The study is based on the national median income of $61,500. Watch the report, http://www.wxyz.com/news/local /story.aspx?content_id=866ae4a e-63ae-419e-993b-7379081dca7f |
Ltorivia485 Member Username: Ltorivia485
Post Number: 3060 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 3:53 pm: | |
Yes, Detroit is affordable but it's not among the most desirable cities to reside in. The most expensive cities happen to be the places where most people want to relocate and job opportunities are plentiful. |
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed
Post Number: 3421 Registered: 04-2006
| Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 3:59 pm: | |
Why do they list Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn and Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills as two separate markets again? |
Cman710 Member Username: Cman710
Post Number: 458 Registered: 07-2006
| Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 4:11 pm: | |
ltorivia485: You are right that Detroit is affordable but not among the most desirable cities to reside in. But, while expensive cities frequently do indicate places where people want to relocate, and where job opportunities are plentiful, there are also places that are on the cheaper side (e.g., Houston, TX) that have experienced incredible job growth and have had great population increases. So there are places that are on the cheaper side that are desirable. We need to work on making Detroit one of them! |
Fmstack Member Username: Fmstack
Post Number: 81 Registered: 06-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - 8:57 pm: | |
Something I found moving to the Detroit area as a renter is that the cheaper cost of housing was more than offset by the necessity of owning a car and of driving it all over creation to get anything done. I'm back in an expensive-rent coastal city now, paying 300 dollars more a month for a bit less space than I had in Hamtramck, but being able to live car-free (and thus forego gas and insurance) more than offsets that. Granted, this might be different in the home-ownership market, since that's even more distorted in the hot cities than the rental market. |
Mwilbert Member Username: Mwilbert
Post Number: 345 Registered: 11-2007
| Posted on Friday, August 22, 2008 - 9:57 am: | |
If you live someplace where you can eliminate car ownership, it certainly can offset a lot of housing cost. But a many people need cars even in places where you can get along without them. When I lived in Cambridge, MA, I mostly walked, biked and used the T, but my wife and I still needed a car, although we didn't drive that many miles. The big savings is getting rid of the car altogether, but that is harder. What I think is true for more people is that where transit is better a family may be able to use only one car rather than two or three. You would also probably be paying a lot more than an extra 300 dollars rent to live in Cambridge. And of course it also depends upon how much you need to travel. The hourly car rental services like Zipcar do make it a lot easier not to own a car at all, but I don't think there is such a service in Metro Detroit. To get back to the thread topic, I can assure you that compared to greater Boston, Detroit is very affordable. |
Ltorivia485 Member Username: Ltorivia485
Post Number: 3066 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Friday, August 22, 2008 - 10:38 am: | |
Zipcar is only available in Ann Arbor. It would be nice if such a service existed in Metro Detroit. I used Zipcar (formerly Flexcar) all the time when I was still living in Chicago. I lived four years without a car while I was in college, and it was possible in a place like Chicago. |
Dougw Member Username: Dougw
Post Number: 2130 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Saturday, August 23, 2008 - 12:30 am: | |
quote:Detroit,Dearborn, Warren and Livonia is on the top of the list for one of the most affordable cities in the nation. National Association of Home Builders did the study. That is absolutely true. Oddly enough, though, that's not good news for the National Association of Home Builders... home prices in much of metro Detroit are currently cheap partly because there are too many homes given the demand. It will be tough for builders to build new homes which are remotely competitive in price with recently built homes for the next 3-5 years. |
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup
Post Number: 4930 Registered: 06-2004
| Posted on Saturday, August 23, 2008 - 12:40 am: | |
Detroit's median income isn't anywhere near $61,500 either. Local markets do vary from place to place within the country. |
Lefty2 Member Username: Lefty2
Post Number: 1798 Registered: 07-2007
| Posted on Saturday, August 23, 2008 - 1:13 am: | |
what is the definition of affordable. |