Detroit has always been a city of home owners, but is that changing?
Some developments intended to be sold are, at least partially,
converting to rentals. In this economy, renting is making sense for
more young people just getting started as well as new transplants.
Excerpt:
Colin Hubbell, a Detroit-based loft developer suffering the fallout
of the credit crisis, anticipates a "robust" market for rental
properties in the region. His "
Lofts at 55 West Canfield,"
in Midtown, Detroit, were set to open with more than half of the units
committed through purchase agreements. Then financing became tight and
his prospective buyers couldn't get loans – the very population, he
says, one would look to as comprising the "creative class."
"It's the group that's challenged when it comes to raising a down
payment or getting the credit score that will qualify," he says. "Some
of those folks were good legitimate buyers who needed a couple years of
life to get their down payment or get their credit score up."
Now, they're shut out of the for-sale market, but prime for rentals.
Hubbell's gearing "Lofts" to accommodate them. Half of the development
will soon be offered for rent. It's not for a lack of "appetite" to own
a loft, he says. It's because they can't get loans.
Read the entire article
here.
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