Detroit: Cheaper To Buy A House Than A New Car
The good news is that home sales in the city of Detroit through July are up by a whopping +44% (YTD) compared to last year (7,275 homes sold in 2008 YTD vs. 5,055 last year), but the bad news is that the average price for a home sold in Detroit has fallen by 55.7% to only $18,822 so far this this year, compared to an average price last year of $42,502 for the January-August period! Compared to the peak of $97,850 for the average Detroit home price in 2003, prices have fallen by almost 81% (see chart above, values are annual except for 2008, which is YTD, data available here).Bottom Line: As I have reported before, the average priced house in Detroit ($18,822) is cheaper than the average price new car ($22,650).
9 Comments:
Why don't you go create a leveraged fund and buy up houses in Detroit then?
The reason is because those houses AREN'T WORTH ANYTHING.
If that's the average price, I'd be interested to know the median price and the hi and lo prices.
Ahhh~~ Detroit...
"Politically, the city consistently supports the Democratic Party in state and national elections (local election are nonpartisan). According to a study released by the Bay Area Center for Voting Research, Detroit is the most liberal large city in America, measuring only the percentage of city residents who voted for the Democratic Party." Source - Wikipedia.
What do you call it when you vote for the same people expecting different results?
P.S. Detroit is the preview of the Barack Obama's presidency!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yes and Detroit really flourished during the Bush years and the republican controlled congress years.
Anon 7.37 PM, the federal government doesn't run cities or states...you probably blame the federal government for the Katrina aftermath thinking that former Louisiana Gov. Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Nagin were free of any blame whatsoever.
Anon. 6:39,
You're right. Those houses have been stripped to the bones like cars in Chicago. The spike in copper prices has corresponded to a rise in stripping of buildings even in urban areas in Ontario that are not depressed.
The land still retains value.
One must also consider Detroit's bzyantine regulatory system. Not exactly conducive to economic growth.
Those damned real estate agents are now making all of an average of $367.00 per sale on average!
Bloggers probably make more money now.
Hmmm, cars are more expensive than houses in Detroit...
Well it makes it a lot easier to leave Detroit if one has a vehicle, hence I think money spent on something that depreciates faster than houses normally do is a better investment in this case...
Ellis Washington offers up a good reason why Detrot is Detroit...
Michigan Republicans never met a regressive tax proposal they didn't like.
Given the pathetic choices offered Michigan voters, I voted in defense of my beleaguered finances.
So I voted for the liberals because I sure as heck couldn't afford any additional regressive taxation.
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