Residential Prices at Record Highs in Detroit

With the relocation of thousands of Quicken Loans (and other companies) employees to the city, the rise of baby boomers looking for retirement properties, and a general upswing in interest for living in the city, something remarkable has happened. Residential property prices in Downtown Detroit are skyrocketing, with residents scrambling to get ahold of properties while they are still available. Prices have reached levels of $300 per square foot, the highest in recent memory for most Detroiters.

While it is certainly not a driving force for the prices, the new leadership in the city has definitely helped boost the confidence of buyers. People are more interested in living in Detroit now that municipal services have been cleaned up, and there is hope for the city that is emerging from bankruptcy with an astonishing resilience.

Although the prices in the Downtown District are at record highs, the urban neighborhoods still struggling to get out of the housing slump have median sales prices of $15,000. Neighborhoods are seeing an increase in residency and property value, albeit at a much slower rate. There is simply a much higher demand, and lower available supply of housing units in the Downtown District, which is naturally increasing the values of the area.

What all of this translates into, is what hopeful investors have been waiting for—the surge of home values in the urban core of the city, where rentals are abundant, and the potential is limitless.

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