Detroit, MI
Should you rent or buy in the Detroit area? Where a new study says it's better to rent or buy
DETROIT (FOX 2) – Is it better to rent or buy a home? That’s a question that’s plaguing many people in their 20s and 30s today. When it comes to buying versus renting a home, buying has long been considered the American dream and the superior option.
But what may be true in some places – isn’t true everywhere. A new study aims to identify whether it’s actually cheaper to rent or buy in the most populous U.S. metros.
The study, conducted by Clever, retrieved data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Federal Reserve, along with housing and business companies, to identify the best option based on a price-to-rent ratio.
The price-to-rent ratio was calculated by dividing the median home price by the median annual rent.
So where does Detroit rank? Well – let’s say you’re going to want to have your downpayment ready. The Detroit Metro is one of the ten places in the country where it’s better to buy than rent.
Top cities for buying a home, renting
Best cities for buying a home
Although affordable housing markets do still exist, the study found that they are few and far between. This is the challenge that potential home buyers face.
Clever, a real estate analytics company, found that it is cheaper to buy a home in only 18 of the 50 most populous metros, based on the price-to-rent ratio.
Cleveland was revealed as the best city for those looking to buy a home. Not only did Cleveland have the lowest price-to-rent ratio, it also has the lowest home prices among all 50 cities studied, with the median home costing $187,413.
That’s not the only Rust Belt city in the top half of the most affordable places to buy. The region was once a profitable manufacturing hub, but when the U.S. economy shifted to service-oriented industries and the factories closed, the population dwindled, contributing to a surplus of homes and, therefore, lower prices, according to Clever.
Detroit is included in this list and the metro was listed as the 7th best city for buyers.
Many of the remaining cities that were best for buying were found in the South, where there’s plenty of land for development and less stringent building regulations that make it cheaper and easier to build new homes — contributing to lower housing costs.
Surprisingly, few home buyers would likely say that purchasing a home in New York is affordable, with the median home costing $579,177. But given that the average rent is $3,330 a month — the second-highest amount among all cities studied — the study found that residents are actually better off splurging on a mortgage than paying rent.
Top 10 cities for buying
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Chicago, Illinois
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- Memphis, Tennessee
- Birmingham, Alabama
- Detroit, Michigan
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Cincinnati, Ohio
- Indianapolis, Indiana
Best cities for renting
Renting is typically cheaper than buying across most of the U.S., but it is much better to rent in nine of the 50 largest U.S. metros, according to the price-to-rent ratio.
According to the study, Americans are much better off renting in major cities in the West, where high construction costs, confined building space, and the emergence of high-paying industries has led to a significant increase in home values.
One of the most expensive cities was San Jose, which had the highest price-to-rent ratio. With a typical home costing more than $1.5 million, most residents don’t have any choice but to rent.
Despite this, San Jose rent prices are still extremely high, and were the highest among all 50 cities studied.
Of the cities with a high price-to-rent ratio, Salt Lake City had the lowest rent prices. Renters could expect to pay $1,710 a month — about half of what they’d pay in San Jose.
Top 10 cities for renting
- San Jose, California
- San Francisco, California
- Los Angeles, California
- Seattle, Washington
- Salt Lake City, Utah
- San Diego, California
- Portland, Oregon
- Denver, Colorado
- Austin, Texas
- Sacramento, California
Housing prices continue to increase over time
Across the country, the average home price has increased 39% more than the average rent price over the past five years and 72% faster in the past year, according to the study.
Nationally, renters save $289 more than homeowners each month, Clever found.
The price-to-rent ratio peaked in 2021, when rent prices continued to rise while home values ground to a halt as mortgage rates went up. The current ratio has dipped, but that’s still up from 2019.
According to new research, younger adults between the age of 22 and 35 spend an average of $25,620 per year as a renter.
But, in more than 200 U.S. cities, the typical starter home comes with a price tag of $1 million or more, according to a new analysis by Zillow.
Here’s how much long-term renters spend on average, and most affordable states for renters
And while buyers and sellers are both waiting for interest rates to fall, Realtor.com senior economist Ralph McLaughlin said affordability will still be an issue in the long run.
In the near term, lower borrowing rates will make housing more affordable over a three- to six-month period, McLaughlin said. But eventually, they will “manifest themselves into price growth and offset the decrease in mortgage payments.”
This means When borrowing rates come down, buyers have more money that they can borrow. In other words, they have more purchasing power.
“They can actually pay more for a home than they otherwise would,” McLaughlin said, adding that “when they go to bid on a house… they can bid up to price more than when mortgage rates were higher.”
Bottom line: As the price-to-rent ratio increases, Americans are still, overall, better off renting instead of buying a home — putting the American dream of homeownership further out of reach.
Detroit, MI
With funding secured, here’s when Detroit Lake marina excavation could get underway
See restoration Opal Creek area after 2020 Oregon wildfires
Work is being done to restore access to Three Pools, Shady Cove campground and Little North Santiam trailhead in the Opal Creek area.
People have been so anxious for the dredging under the two marinas in Detroit Lake to begin that they assumed construction was starting this fall.
And this is a year when people are allowed to keep their boats at Kane’s Marina and Detroit Lake Marina into September, much longer than the past couple years.
The reality is the construction of the project, which will move 162,000 cubic yards of dirt from under the marinas and create a peninsula, is expected to start during the fall of 2025 after more than a decade of planning.
The Marion County Commissioners on Wednesday voted to accept $2 million from the federal department of Housing and Urban Development through its Community Project Funding Program.
It’s another step forward toward extending the recreation season in Detroit.
“I think this has been a long time coming project,” Marion County Commissioner Kevin Cameron said. “It’s still a long time out there.”
When will the excavation project start at Detroit Lake?
The first phase of the project, which included developing the design and figuring out what to do with the excavated dirt, was completed last year.
Now, Marion County is applying for permits and creating the engineering for the project.
Construction is expected to start in fall 2025 and be completed by the spring 2026, prior to the start of the boating season.
All of the dirt will be used to form a U-shaped 2,400-foot, 120-foot wide peninsula that would extend towards Piety Island south of the city.
The project aims to enable the marinas to operate when the water is as low as 1,525 feet above sea level. That is expected to make it so that the marinas could operate from May 1 through Oct. 1.
The design of that is to allow the tourist-dependent community of Detroit to earn more from the tourist season.
This year, boats have to be out of Kane’s Marina by Sept. 2, which is longer than in some years.
Last year, boats had to be removed by Aug. 21 because of low water levels in Detroit Lake. In 2021, it was July 11.
“It’s a wonderful investment for that community,” said Lari Rupp, an economic development specialist for Marion County.
How is the $5 million Detroit Lake project being paid for?
The $2 million in HUD funding is coming from the federal government’s appropriations from late 2022.
That money has to be used for costs associated with excavation and transportation.
Marion County has allocated $3 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds.
It also has $60,000 in money from the Business Oregon Brownfields Redevelopment Fund. And Marion County has allocated $50,000 in economic development lottery dollars.
The project has been discussed for years, but much of the delay was due to the lack of funds.
After the COVID-19 pandemic and the Labor Day wildfires of 2020 wiped out much of Detroit, more money has become available to help in the recovery.
“It takes a long time to get projects done,” Marion County Commissioner Danielle Bethell said.
Cameron said that community members had asked him about if the plan had been scaled back from initial plans. But they were informed the plan is unchanged.
“We’ve been following through from the same permits that were submitted in 2017 when they tried to excavate a certain area,” Rupp said.
Bill Poehler covers Marion and Polk County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com
Detroit, MI
Storm knocks out power, takes down trees in Rochester Hills
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Detroit, MI
Detroit Tigers Clicking on All Cylinders Entering Wednesday’s Matchup vs. Angels
The Detroit Tigers are the hottest team in baseball. Riding a five-game winning streak, there isn’t another franchise in the league that has been doing more winning than them recently.
The Tigers swept a four-game series against the Chicago White Sox and kept the momentum going in their series opener against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday. They won 6-2, as they are currently clicking on all cylinders.
Detroit is receiving contributions from several arms on the pitching staff beyond Cy Young Award favorite Tarik Skubal. Last night, it was Brant Hurter who fired five strong innings, surrendering only two runs.
He was backed by a lineup that has come to life in recent weeks as the young players on the team are emerging.
Jake Rogers, Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter all hit home runs in support of Hurter. Matt Vierling provided support with an RBI double, with the sixth run being knocked in courtesy of a Carpenter single.
That victory put the Tigers over the .500 mark. It is the first time since 2016 that they are above the .500 mark after the All-Star break.
They will be looking to run their winning streak to six games on Wednesday, as Mason Englert will be taking the mound. Used in relief for 11 appearances, this will be his first start of the season.
Manager A.J. Hinch has been masterfully navigating a shortage of starting pitchers by deploying several openers each turn through the rotation. That looks to be Englert’s job tonight, as Kenta Maeda could be in line to eat up innings behind him.
Opposing Englert on the mound for the Angels is Griffin Canning. He is making his 27th appearance of the season and 26th start. 2024 has been a struggle for him, as he is 4-11 with a 5.18 ERA across 139 innings.
The long ball has hurt Griffin throughout the campaign, as he has given up 24 home runs. That is bad news going up against a red-hot Tigers lineup that has been crushing the ball as of late.
Even with an opener taking the mount, Detroit is a sizable favorite tonight. They are listed at -165, which has an implied probability of 62.1 percent chance to win. Los Angeles is a +138 underdog with an implied probability of 42 percent chance to win.
The over/under for runs scored is set at nine, as we could see some offense once again at Comerica Park.
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