Update on "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" about Metro Detroit real estate

On Sunday, I posted the following from the Detroit Free Press.

Median home sale prices were down 13.3% in metro Detroit to $58,000 last month, compared with $66,900 in March 2010. Prices were down in all counties, but sales prices in the city of Detroit rose by 10%, to a median of $8,505 from $7,725.

Prices are also down, but note the price rise in Detroit proper. That's an early sign of a possible recovery, even if it's starting at a very low level. In a BAU environment, I'd say that the local market is very close to a bottom. The BAU people agree.

Kathy Coon, broker/owner of Real Living Great Lakes in Rochester Hills, said that prices are coming up despite the March readings.

"Once the appraisers see what is going on in the market, the prices will start coming back up," she said. "The good houses right now are selling really quickly, those that are priced right and in good condition. We are seeing the good foreclosures selling really quickly with multiple offers."

Looks like Ms. Coon was right. A few days after I posted that news, the Free Press followed up.

February metro home sales up 1% from January

The metro area gained 1% in February compared with January, but was down 3.7% from February 2010, according to S&P/Case-Shiller home price data released Tuesday. Home prices for the top 20 cities in America were down by 3.3% from a year ago and down by 1.1% compared with January.

Detroit was the only major metropolitan area in the U.S. to show an increase in prices month-over-month according to the Case-Schiller index. Even so, home prices here are only 68% of what they were in 2000. Business as usual? Not quite.