Detroit housing prices at the start of 2018: A tale of two cities

We know Detroit’s housing market is unusual. Last year, we saw million dollar home sales, prices sharply rising in certain neighborhoods, plus a lack of move-in ready, affordable properties. So where are we at for the start of 2018?

We asked our friends at NeighborhoodX to analyze listings in nine different neighborhoods around the city. The research firm works with cities across the country to analyze real estate data, but notes that the market in Detroit is quite different.

We chose neighborhoods that represent a range of options across the city. Condos and lofts are popular choices in Midtown and Downtown. We’ve seen many rehabs in Boston-Edison and the North End in recent years, plus strong neighborhood pride in places like Bagley, East English Village, and Rosedale Park.

Constantine Valhouli, Director of Research for NeighborhoodX, tells Curbed Detroit that they generally use market-rate listings, not foreclosures or short sales, since those properties often need significant renovation or improvements at the cost of the buyer.

“After reflection, in order to be accurate, this analysis needed to include the foreclosures, short sales, and properties in need of rehabilitation, as they make up a disproportionate amount of the market compared to other cities we’ve analyzed,” says Valhouli. In doing this, we can also see the range of properties available in the neighborhoods.

This analysis is based on current listings in nine neighborhoods across the city.

Unsurprisingly, Downtown and Midtown’s prices are disproportionately higher, with Downtown’s average price per square foot at $415, and Midtown’s average coming in at $328 per square foot. We then see Lafayette Park, directly east of Downtown, with prices averaging $165 per square foot. Boston-Edison, which saw huge sales last year and a very wide range of homes available, is currently coming in at $116 per square foot.

We then get to the more affordable neighborhoods in our analysis. You can see a large range in both the North End and East English Village. Bagley currently has the more affordable properties out of these neighborhoods, at $41 per square foot. With more rehabs underway in the North End, and development around Bagley, we can expect prices to rise in both of those neighborhoods in the coming years.

Are there any other neighborhoods you’d like to see analytics on in 2018? Or perhaps comparisons by year? Let us know in the comments below.