Houses cheaper than cars in depressed Detroit
Reuters With bidding stalled on some of the least desirable residences in Detroit’s collapsing housing market, even the fast-talking auctioneer was feeling the stress.
“Folks, the ground underneath the house goes with it. You do know that, right?” he offered.
After selling house after house in the Motor City for less than the $29,000 it costs to buy the average new car, the auctioneer tried a new line: “The lumber in the house is worth more than that!”
As Detroit reels from job losses in the U.S. auto industry, the depressed city has emerged as a boomtown in one area: foreclosed property.
It also stands as a case study in the economic pain from a housing bust as analysts consider whether a developing crisis in mortgages to high-risk borrowers will trigger a slowdown in the broader U.S. economy.
The rising cost of mortgage financing for Detroit borrowers with weak credit has added to the downdraft from a slumping local economy to send home values plunging faster than many investors anticipated a few months ago.
At a weekend sale of about 300 Detroit-area houses by Texas-based auction firm Hudson & Marshall, the mood was marked more by fear than greed.
Related posts:
- Nearly 700 Detroit Homes Will Be Auctioned by Hudson & Marshall March 25th-30th
- Auction Before Foreclosure
- Super Cheap Houses Introduces Auction Site Strictly for Wholesale Houses
- Sharp decline in US house sales
- Detroit area houses are scheduled to be auctioned to the public March 25 through March 30, 2008
