Detroit home prices: N/A

While the Detroit metro area has had some of the steepest price declines in a monthly Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home-price index that compares 20 U.S. markets, the National Association of Realtors had no price information for that market area in its latest quarterly price report.

The Case-Shiller Index reported that the Detroit metro area had year-over-year price drops of 6.9 percent in January, 7.8 percent in February, 8.4 percent in March and 9.3 percent in April. That amounts to an average monthly decline of 7.7 percent during the first quarter of the year. A separate index, published by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, reported that the Detroit metro area ranked 13th in the nation for its level of home-price decline, at 2.9 percent in the first quarter compared to the same quarter last year.

A Census report released this week revealed that the Detroit has suffered a population decline of about 1.5 percent from July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2006 -- which is one of the steepest rates in the nation.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors reported in its first-quarter metro area home price report for existing single-family homes that Detroit area data is: N/A.
A spokesman for the Realtor group said, "We were unable to obtain sufficient data for the entire MSA that is representative for the quarter. Figures are supplied on a voluntary basis -- if insufficient data is received by deadline we list it as 'N/A,'" or not available.
The Detroit price data had been reported for Detroit in previous quarters, and the latest NAR metro price report reveals that the median existing-home price in the Detroit metro fell 7.4 percent in 2006 compared to 2005, and sank to $142,400 in first-quarter 2006 before climbing to $154,600 in fourth-quarter 2006. That still represents a slump compared to the 2004 median price of $161,000.

Inman News contacted the Detroit Association of Realtors, which directed the call to the Realcomp multiple listing service. Inman News is still waiting for a response as to why this home-price data was not available. Is it such a bad thing to be in a market with adjusting prices? Couldn't this be useful in attracting a wave of investors and other buyers?

A Housing Opportunity Index published this week by the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo found that the Detroit metro had the 13th highest share of affordable homes for families earning the median income. An estimated 87.4 percent of median-income families could afford the area's median home price of $94,000 in that market, according to the report.

Detroit is not the only market for which NAR metro price data was not available. Danville, Ill., data has not been listed in the NAR report since second-quarter 2006. Kalamazoo, Mich., and Nashville, Tenn., data is not available for 2006, and no price data is available for Saginaw, Mich., in the latest report, as examples. First-quarter 2007 data isn't available for Sioux Falls, S.D., Springfield, Mo., and Norwich, Conn., too.

All rights reserved. This article may not be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, in part or in whole, without written permission of Inman News. Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright law.