Two housing markets, two directions: Nation mirrors bipolar real-estate trends in Metro Detroit
Published: Saturday, September 24, 2011, 2:25 PM Updated: Saturday, September 24, 2011, 9:02 PM
By The Associated Press
In America, it's starting to feel as if there are two housing markets. One for the rich and one for everyone else.
Consider foreclosure-ravaged Detroit. In the historic Green Acres district, a haven for hipsters, a pristine, three-bedroom brick Tudor recently sold for $6,000 — about what a buyer would have paid during the Great Depression.
Yet just 15 miles away, in the posh suburban enclave of Birmingham, bidding wars are back. Multi-million-dollar mansions are selling quickly. Sales this August were up 21 percent from the previous year. The country club has ended its stealth discounts on new memberships. And Main Street's retail storefronts are full.
"We're getting more showings, more offers and more sales," says Ronnie Keating, a real estate agent with Sotheby's International.
Think of this housing market as bipolar. In the luxury sector, the recession is a memory and sales and prices are rising. But everywhere else, the market is moving sideways or getting worse.
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http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2011/09/two_housing_markets_two_direct.html
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