For the past 5 or 6 years investors from all over the world have been taking a chance on the cheap housing market in Detroit and snapping up homes from as little as $25,000 with returns up to 25 and 30% in some cases.
Global Investments Incorporated have been a major player in the US market place in the past 5 years and have sold more than 4000 homes in this time, with their main source of sales volume coming from the Detroit Housing market. CEO Mike Moodie told us that Detroit accounted for 70% of the companies business over the past 5 years.
House prices in Detroit certainly seem to be on the rise and the availability of good stock in the best locations also seems to be drying up. We spoke to CEO Mike about the changing trend in the Detroit marketplace and asked him if he thinks the window of opportunity is closing for the overseas investor.
Mike was quoted in saying “ Listen I think there will always be an opportunity in Detroit certainly for the foreseeable future, but do I think there has been a shift and a change in the market, 100%. I still think that Detroit is a fantastic opportunity for our investors but I think that the days of buying properties at $25,000 with 30% returns are almost over and investors may need to re-think their budgets and start looking at prices between $35,000 to $45,000 with returns of around 20% which of course are still very attractive. We basically have stock in Detroit tied up and over the past 5 years we have managed to find the best suppliers of turn key properties to work with. It really has never been an issue for me to replenish our stock but over the past 5-6 months we are finding it increasingly difficult to get the lower priced properties in good locations and we have also seen an increase in our average sale of approx $5,000 per door. “
Looking at the Detroit Market and what Mike is saying, the figures certainly seem to back up what the companies CEO is claiming.
Median home and condominium sale prices in November 2016 rose by 9.6 percent from the year before as the number of on-market listings continues to fall.
In the four-county region that includes Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Livingston counties, median sale prices jumped from $146,000 in November 2015 to $160,051, according to a report released by Farmington Hills-based Realcomp Ltd. II.
The total number of home and condo sales in the region climbed by 17.3 percent year-over-year.
Livingston County bested the regional figures in median sale price and home and condo sales increases. Prices increased by 13.9 percent, best in the region, from $208,000 in November 2015 to $236,900 last month. Homes sold rose by 19.6 percent, from 230 to 275 last month, giving it the second-highest percentage increase behind only Wayne County which still has the highest number of sales.
In Wayne County, total sales grew by 23.8 percent from 1,338 to 1,656 in November 2016, according to Realcomp. Median sale prices climbed 12.6 percent, good for the second-best increase, from $101,000 to $113,746.
Much of the positive growth can be attributed to a lack of available housing stock. In November 2015, there were 21,559 homes and condos on the market in the four-county region. In the same month in 2016 there were just 12,520, a 41.9 percent drop. That’s causing quick turnaround times for sellers as the average number of days on the market fell from 45 in November 2015 to 39 again in Nov 2016, a 13.3 percent drop.
All of these statistics and trends seem to have carried on into the beginning of 2017 and do not seem to be stopping with demand increasing for these investment properties, also backing up the Manchester based firms claims of prices increasing and good stock decreasing.
We asked Mike what the Manchester based company was doing to deal with this moving trend, Mike added. “ Well first of all we kind of need to re educated our investors and let them realise what is going on in the market place so they understand what is happening and price condition them to this moving marketplace.
This will mean that when they see the properties at the $35,000 mark and with returns of 20% they will realise that these are great buys and not to hang about and wait for that property they may think is round the corner, as by doing this they may miss out all together on what is a great market to invest in now.
I also think that given what is happening in Detroit and all the positive vibes coming out of the city, that given the right direction by us coupled with the great on the ground support and management that they will see not only great returns but fantastic capital growth in the next 3-5 years. Of course we are still pushing our suppliers and we are still getting great houses and we have the best turn key stock out there so I am very confident that if anything sales will increase in the last 3 quarters of the year Detroit will get even stronger than it is today.“
So from what Mike has told us and the figures from the different sources in the US, it looks like Detroit has had significant growth over the pat 5 years and seems that this will carry on for many years ton come giving investors a safe and secure investment opportunity.
If you are interested in Detroit and would like more information or to see the latest opportunities please email Mike direct at [email protected]
