Comments on: Housing market datapoint of the day

By: Vikram

Vikram — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:10:34 +0000

I think it’s related to oppurtunities available around the area in terms of jobs & prosperity..

Decline in jobs, leads to flight of consumers and sub-prime just added fuel to the fire…

By: wcw

wcw — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 06:23:42 +0000

For one thing, they didn’t double. Don’t trust averages, medians or anything other than a repeat-sales index for residential prices. From June 1996 to June 2003, house prices per Case-Shiller were up 54% in Detroit. This was, true, above rust-belt Cleveland’s 31%, but below the national house-price change. To see the move as implausible, you had to expect people to see over ten years into the future. We humans don’t do that very well.

By: Anon

Anon — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:03:32 +0000

Go here: http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/outside.jsp?surv ey=sm

and look up manufacturing employment in Michigan from 1992 to 2009 for your answer to this mystery. Population data on the Detroit area from the census might help too.

By: David T

David T — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 17:24:12 +0000

“What was it that caused home prices in Detroit to double between 1996 and 2003?”

Two things: (1) Housing demand within any city is sensitive to prices in the surrounding areas; as the ‘burbs get more expensive a few people who would have liked to buy there find the city attractive. I don’t have data but as a resident I have the sense that housing prices across SE Michigan exploded during this period. (2) There was a sense of hope and optimism about Detroit during this period. The first new commercial building in the city in decades went up sometime in the mid 90s (I think a Walgreens) and there was a gathering sense of forward momentum. Why? Who knows; there was lots of public works investment, esp. the stadia, but more important, I’d guess, was that Detroit became a little trendy. (An incredible techno music and club scene, for example; and where the youth go….)