  Alexei289 Member Username: Alexei289 Post Number: 1259 Registered: 11-2004 |
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/200 70319/ts_nm/usa_subprime_detro it_dc "Houses cheaper than cars in Detroit By Kevin Krolicki Mon Mar 19, 11:48 AM ET DETROIT (Reuters) - With bidding stalled on some of the least desirable residences in Detroit's collapsing housing market, even the fast-talking auctioneer was feeling the stress. "Folks, the ground underneath the house goes with it. You do know that, right?" he offered. After selling house after house in the Motor City for less than the $29,000 it costs to buy the average new car, the auctioneer tried a new line: "The lumber in the house is worth more than that!" As Detroit reels from job losses in the U.S. auto industry, the depressed city has emerged as a boomtown in one area: foreclosed property. It also stands as a case study in the economic pain from a housing bust as analysts consider whether a developing crisis in mortgages to high-risk borrowers will trigger a slowdown in the broader U.S. economy. The rising cost of mortgage financing for Detroit borrowers with weak credit has added to the downdraft from a slumping local economy to send home values plunging faster than many investors anticipated a few months ago. At a weekend sale of about 300 Detroit-area houses by Texas-based auction firm Hudson & Marshall, the mood was marked more by fear than greed. "These people are investors and they know the difficulty of finding financing. They know the difficulty of finding good tenants. They're cautious," said realtor Stanley Wegrzynowicz, who attended the auction. HOW LOW IS LOW? The city, which has lost more than half its population in the past 30 years and struggled with rising crime, failing schools and other social problems, largely missed out on the housing boom that swept much of the country in recent years. Prices have gained less than 2 percent per year in the five years since 2001, when the auto industry entered a renewed slump. Steve Izairi, 32, who re-financed his own house in suburban Dearborn and sold his restaurant to begin buying rental properties in Detroit two years, was concerned that houses he thought were bargains at $70,000 two years ago were now selling for just $35,000. At least 16 Detroit houses up for sale on Sunday sold for $30,000 or less. A boarded-up bungalow on the city's west side brought $1,300. A four-bedroom house near the original Motown recording studio sold for $7,000. "You can't buy a used car for that," said Izairi. "It's a gamble, and you have to wonder how low it's going to get." Detroit, where unemployment runs near 14 percent and a third of the population lives in poverty, leads the nation in new foreclosure filings, according to tracking service RealtyTrac. With large swaths of the city now abandoned, banks are reclaiming and reselling Detroit homes from buyers who can no longer afford payments at seven times the national rate. Michigan was the only state to see home prices fall in 2006. The national average price rose almost 6 percent but prices slipped 0.4 percent here, according to a federal study. The state's jobless rate of 7.1 percent in January was also the second highest in the nation, behind only Mississippi. HOW MUCH CAN YOU BUY FOR $1 MILLION? Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was greeted with applause when he announced last week that two condominiums in the city's revitalizing downtown sold for over $1 million each. But investors, including some from out of state, proved far more cautious at Sunday's auction. In the most spirited bidding of the day, a sprawling, four-bedroom mansion from Detroit's boom days with an ornate stone entrance fetched just $135,000. Dave Webb, principal at Hudson & Marshall, said Michigan had become a "heavy volume" market for his auction firm in recent years, although bigger-money deals were waiting in California, a market he said was ready for the first such auctions of repossessed property in years. "These people that are buying have got to look at holding on for five to seven years," he said. "The key is holding power." Even with the steep discounts on Detroit-area properties, some buyers handed over their deposits with a wince. "I'm not sure it's congratulations," said Kirk Neal, a 55-year-old auto body shop worker who bought a ranch in the suburb of Oak Park for $34,000. "My wife is going to kill me." Realtor Ron Walraven had a three-bedroom house in the suburb of Bloomfield Hills that had listed for $525,000 sell for just $130,000 at the auction. "Once we've seen the last person leave Michigan, then I think we'll be able to say we've seen the bottom," he said" | ||
Eric Member Username: Eric Post Number: 716 Registered: 11-2004 |
Posted hours ago https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mes sages/5/97336.html?1174424205 | ||
Dabirch Member Username: Dabirch Post Number: 2145 Registered: 06-2004 |
quote: Were? you mean as in past-tense? We used to be the laughingstock, but now we are not? Or maybe we're the laughingstock because of our shitty understanding of the English language? The two are most probably linked. | ||
Hans57 Member Username: Hans57 Post Number: 60 Registered: 05-2006 |
Dabrich, are you the grammar police? It seems that the last few post I've seen of yours are just complaints about other peoples' word usage. Give it a rest, you have a limited number of heart beats in a lifetime, save them for something more imperative. | ||
Lvnthed Member Username: Lvnthed Post Number: 35 Registered: 03-2007 |
Again MICHIGAN Is in the dumps, Detroit is holding up the region, and we get singled out for the negative news. Absolutely no mention of our building boom. Institutional Hating of the D has become this sick sport and I am tired of it. It sucks!! | ||
Dabirch Member Username: Dabirch Post Number: 2148 Registered: 06-2004 |
Hans -- To think that the collective gutting of the English language that is transcribed here, is not indicative of the region is naive. To think that the region's failure to properly educate the citizenry in things as basic as spelling, punctuation, and grammar has nothing to do with the state of the regional economy is more than naive - it is dangerous. | ||
Jeduncan Member Username: Jeduncan Post Number: 70 Registered: 11-2006 |
Heh, it's not just the region Dabirch. It's the nation. Perhaps your criticism would prove itself more constructive if used in other applications. EPIPHANY: I can skip the spell and grammar check on Word from now on and forward everything I write for my classes directly to you. Thanks in advance for improving my grades. I am just as annoyed by poor spelling and grammar as you are, but I just feel a forum is an unfit outlet for my pet peeves. (Message edited by jeduncan on March 20, 2007) | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 5265 Registered: 10-2003 |
I found out that there are 15 homes right here in Lansing selling for under $30,000. I can't think of any declined city anywhere in this country where you couldn't find a dozen or more houses selling for under that price. That said, there is no doubt the housing market in most parts of this state suck. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 2872 Registered: 10-2004 |
quote: And just what does holding up supposed to mean? It is definitely ambiguous, although the context seems to imply that Detroit is the Savior around here. But that can't be correct because that doesn't make sense! | ||
Hans57 Member Username: Hans57 Post Number: 61 Registered: 05-2006 |
I'm not saying that you're wrong. I'm just saying that the people posting on this site, most likely, aren't the people you should be worried about. | ||
Jeduncan Member Username: Jeduncan Post Number: 71 Registered: 11-2006 |
You know, at work I put together packages for garages and home additions on almost a daily basis. Let me tell you. It's true that the lumber in these homes actually is worth more than they're selling for. Hopefully an economic "messiah" of sorts lands here in michigan, and soon. | ||
Nyburgher Member Username: Nyburgher Post Number: 164 Registered: 10-2006 |
Are you guy's kidding. You should blast that info into every high priced real estate market in the country. Price is one of the core reasons that people might take a look at the area. Just imagine how rich you would be if you had bought NY real estate the day after the-Ford to city : Drop Dead Headline. | ||
Dabirch Member Username: Dabirch Post Number: 2152 Registered: 06-2004 |
quote: Grammar, spelling, and punctuation have nothing to do with intellect. It is all stuff that anybody should know by about 10th grade. If they don't - shame on the schools, the teachers, the parents, and the individuals for letting it happen. It is memorization and application of simple rules. Nothing more, nothing less. They are the rules, however, to which employers, college and grad school administrators, potential investors, and the legal system all subscribe. | ||
Jeduncan Member Username: Jeduncan Post Number: 72 Registered: 11-2006 |
I do agree that proper english usage is very important, and I also agree with you regarding the fact that it's sad that people graduate thinking words such as "said" are spelled "sayed" (yes, I have actually seen it. It was pretty pathetic). However, I just feel that in an informal outlet such as a forum, content is more pertinent than semantics. Anyways, back to the deteriorating market... | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 2873 Registered: 10-2004 |
Those things that Dabirch mentions should be learned by the fifth grade because that is the expected grade level of today's newspapers. Back some five decades ago, the targeted newspaper audience was closer to the eighth-grade level. Newspaper editors nowadays have to continually get on the cases of their more literate reporters to dumb-down their writing to that lower level. | ||
Dabirch Member Username: Dabirch Post Number: 2156 Registered: 06-2004 |
quote: Actually, that's syntax, not semantics. I am done for the day. Now back to the deteriorating market... | ||
Jeduncan Member Username: Jeduncan Post Number: 73 Registered: 11-2006 |
DAMN! haha I wuz actshully planneeng on uzing syntax. schit. you win. lol | ||
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize Post Number: 287 Registered: 02-2007 |
Aren't we already the laughing stock of the nation, not including the home values? | ||
Jeduncan Member Username: Jeduncan Post Number: 74 Registered: 11-2006 |
I don't know... sometimes I think that our standing in terms of national respect is based just as much on stigma as it is on circumstances, you know? But I'm not an expert by any means. | ||
Hans57 Member Username: Hans57 Post Number: 62 Registered: 05-2006 |
Yes Jeduncan, the rest of the nation and their preconceived notions about this region have us and our balls in a tight vice. They have power in determining our fate. We must spread lies about Detroit such as; "There's gold in the Detroit river!". That will spur a mass migration to our region, and then when they find out there's no gold, they'll be too beleaguered from cholera and syphilis to return to their homes. Then the region and population will blossom. That's my plan. (Message edited by hans57 on March 20, 2007) | ||
Hans57 Member Username: Hans57 Post Number: 64 Registered: 05-2006 |
Just like San Francisco did it. | ||
Jeduncan Member Username: Jeduncan Post Number: 75 Registered: 11-2006 |
lmao | ||
Lvnthed Member Username: Lvnthed Post Number: 37 Registered: 03-2007 |
Ly, my point was, While Housing starts have fallen in the state across the board, Detroit still leads all regions in new permits, And haven't had to push back project start-dates due to lack of pre-sales. And It was recently reported that in addition to that; Sales are up 6% on pre-existing stock. Oakland was down 20% and macomb 16% My point is; Detroit is singled out by the title, which is deceptive on its face. while the greater region was spared. Wouldn't you agree that a home in Bloomfield selling for 1/4 of its assessed value is more of a disturbing trend than a $35.000 home in detroit. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 2874 Registered: 10-2004 |
Just like back during the very late 1970s or early 1980s, the suckers who just purchased their overpriced houses, especially with a small-percentage down payment were left holding the bag. To make things worse, those were the Carter stagflation years with very high inflation and mortgage interest rates. Then house prices dropped 15% to 35% in value in a couple years, even more in some locales. So, what's left for many but to walk away from their homes because they have negative equity--still owe more money or their mortgage(s) than it's worth? Well, that's happening now because of the subprime meltdowns, and it will continue for at least for most this year before getting better, according to Dana Johnson--chief economist for Comerica. I won't bother pitting one location over another as to what is better or not because each community has weak borrowers who shouldn't have purchased houses in the first place. (Message edited by LivernoisYard on March 20, 2007) | ||
Peter Member Username: Peter Post Number: 27 Registered: 02-2007 |
I suppose a plus to the situation is that the homes are selling at all... |
