Michigan foreclosure listings have been growing faster in the suburbs than in the centers of metro areas, based on an analysis of nearly four years of metropolitan area foreclosures.
The suburban cities of Hazel Park, Pontiac and Eastpointe all had higher foreclosure rates than Detroit. Most suburban residents work in Detroit and most suburban enterprises support industrial businesses located in Detroit, so whatever happens to Detroit directly affects the suburban areas.
If foreclosures are analyzed by zip codes, the zip code 48205 in Detroit had the highest rate of foreclosure – one in every 5.2 housing units.
But if city foreclosures are compared, Hazel Park had the highest rate, with one in every 8.2 housing units getting notified of foreclosure. Second highest was Eastpointe, with one in every 8.3 housing units and third was Pontiac, with a foreclosure rate of one in 9.2.
Detroit was fourth in the ranking of foreclosure rates, with one in every 9.3 homes notified of foreclosure. But Detroit had the largest number of bank-owned homes in Michigan foreclosure listings, totaling 37,727 units for the period January 2006 to August this year.
The average rate of foreclosure in the metropolitan area was one in every 15.5 housing units.
In Hazel Park, where one in every 8.2 residential units has been repossessed during the period from January 2006 to August 2009, for-sale signs abound. City manager Ed Klobucher said his city had the highest rate of foreclosure because his area took out the biggest number of subprime loans.
Earlier this year, Detroit received a funding of $1.6 million from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program to finance initiatives that will prevent vacant foreclosures from causing blight and that will convert properties into useful assets. The money will also be used to demolish abandoned properties that can no longer be rehabilitated.
Other Detroit area communities with high foreclosure rates were Birmingham, with one in every 20.8 houses getting foreclosed; Dearborn Heights, with one in every 13.2 residential units in foreclosure and Washington Township, with one in every 12.7 units getting foreclosed.
The zip code with the biggest rate of foreclosure – zip code 48205 – had once been among Detroit’s strongest neighborhoods. Its housing units were mostly three-bedroom bungalows, with many city employees living in the area.
But now houses, which are mostly foreclosed, are being sold at low prices, ranging from $50 to $49,000.
Comments on this entry are closed.