Spotlight: Michigan
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amErican conScioUSnESS, bUT ThE rESUrrEc Tion of ThE ci Ty — and of michigan aS
a wholE — rEmainS UncEr Tain. nowhErE iS ThiS morE EvidEn T Than in rESidEn Tial
rEal ESTa TE.
Consider this: Things are so bad in Detroit that the National association of Realtors (NaR) says there
isn’t enough information to report on the city’s median home price. according to Michigan-based Gold
Star Mortgage Financial Group CEO Daniel Milstein — the No. 1 mortgage professional on Scotsman
Guide’s 2009 and 2010 Top Originators lists — more than 740 properties in Detroit this past February
were priced at less than $1,000.
In early 2010, Michigan was one of the original five states to receive monetary relief through the U.S.
Treasury Department’s Hardest Hit Fund. The state received additional funds this past October and has
accepted a total of almost $500 million. The money will provide mortgage subsidies for unemployed
homeowners, loan rescues and principal reductions.
The state expects to assist 19,200 borrowers by the end of this year and more than 49,000 borrowers
by mid-2013, according to the Michigan State Housing Development authority.
Foreclosures
MiCHiGAn’S Five WorSt ForeCLoSUre CoUntieS (BY voLUMe)
Despite the efforts of the hardest-hit fund, many distressed homeowners in the Great Lakes State will
be left in dire straits. Michigan was
the sixth-worst state for foreclosures this past January, according
to RealtyTrac, with 16,716 housing
units — one per 272 homes — receiving a foreclosure notice.
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
5,000
On the upside, filings dropped
4. 9 percent from January 2010.
Michigan is a nonjudicial foreclosure state. This past year, 40,901
homes in the state sold during or
after the foreclosure process, comprising 33 percent of all sales. Bank-owned homes in the state sold
for an average 41 percent discount, Realty Trac reported. a state law mandating a 90-day pre-foreclosure
process, intended to promote loan modifications, is set to expire July 5 following a two-year run.
Source: Realty Trac
Wayne Oakland
Notices of Default
note: Statistics reflect January 2011
Macomb Kent Genesee
Auction notices REOs
3 Cities to Watch
DETROIT
a plan to give police officers as much as $150,000
to rehabilitate in-city homes they purchase with
low downpayments has drawn backlash. Many
longtime Detroit residents want the same deal.
Whatever happens, Forbes recently listed Detroit
as the nation’s 15th most miserable city. Crain’s
Detroit Business reported the metropolitan area’s
median home price to be $60,000 this past
January, down from $65,000 a year earlier.
ANN ARBOR
Home to the University of Michigan and its
41,000 students — and the seat of Washtenaw
County — this city’s real estate market is one of
the state’s strongest. year-over-year single-family
sales increased 38. 8 percent this past January,
helping limit the average-price decline to 5. 4 percent, to $297,159, the ann arbor area Board of
Realtors reported.
Photo: Susan Montgomery
Delinquency and unemployment
More than one in 10 Michigan mortgages was overdue this past fourth quarter, according to the Mortgage
Bankers association’s (MBa’s) quarterly delinquency survey. Of those, 44 percent were tardy by 90 days
or more. The saturation of delinquency — along with high unemployment — prompted Market Watch
to name Michigan one of five states
where housing would recover last.
LoAn-t YPe BreAKDo Wn, FoUrtH-QUArter 2010
1%14%
at 12. 5 percent, Michigan’s annual
unemployment rate in 2010 was the
second-worst nationally, according
to the U.S. Department of Labor, the
first time since 2005 the state didn’t
rank first.
another problem for the Great
Lakes State: It has the seventh-highest concentration of subprime
loans, according to the MBa.
11%
74%
Source: Mortgage Bankers association
Prime
Subprime
Federal Housing administration
Department of Veterans affairs
Home sales
Sales prices and activity remained relatively steady statewide this past January, according to the Michigan association of Realtors. The average single-family home price increased 0.69 percent to $99,970
from January 2010. Sales dipped 1.1 percent to 6,593.
Meanwhile, NaR reported the state’s seasonally adjusted annual sales rate at 140,800 this past fourth
quarter, a drop of 18.7 percent from the same period in 2009.
SAGINAW
This city of about 55,000 people is the most affordable housing market in the U.S., according to
the seventh annual Demographia affordability
survey. It found Saginaw’s median home price to
be 1.6 times the city’s median income.
WHAT THE LOCALS SAy
“We’re at the point where we’re starting to hit a bottom in home prices. If we didn’t have the appraisal
undervaluation problems we’ve had, I think we
could have stopped depreciation a year ago. The
sales market right now is hot. anybody that can buy
wants to get in on the low prices. The X-factor here
is the job market. If job growth returns, we should
be looking good.”
— JOSEPH A. BIGELMAN, BRANCH MANAGER AND
EXECu TIVE LOAN OFFICER, JOHN ADAMS MORTGAGE
Sources: ann arbor area Board of Realtors, Bloomberg, Crain’s Detroit
Business, Demographia, Detroit Free Press, Forbes, Market Watch, Michigan
association of Realtors, Michigan Foreclosure Prevention Project, Michigan
Live, Michigan Poverty Law Program, Michigan State Housing Development
authority, Mortgage Bankers association, National association of Realtors,
Realty Trac, Oye! Times, The Michigan Citizen, U. S. Census Bureau, U. S.
Department of Labor, University of Michigan
