New Homes Sprouting up in North Oakland County? (Detroit, Ann Arbor: short sales, real estate)
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I've noticed a trend that seems diametrically opposed to Michigan's current direction: brand new homes sprouting up like weeds in some of north Oakland County's affluent suburbs. Granted, homebuilding never completely ceased. However, the fact that you can purchase a previously owned home for nearly half of its cost to build makes new construction a tough sell. Coupled with the crumbling job market, and homebuilding would seem stagnant at best. However, I've noticed a multitude of new homes being built, notably by Pulte and Moceri Homes. In Orion Township, both the Hills at Indianwood development off of Baldwin Road between Clarkston and Indianwood and The Ravines at Stonegate subdivision at the intersection of Squirrel and Dutton are hotbeds of construction activity. I noticed at least 4 and 6 new homes under construction, respectively. That's quite impressive for a region that's supposedly among the most miserable places on earth and on the brink of death. These homes aren't affordable either, they range from $275,000 to $500,000 in price. So you can imagine it was even more surprising when I noticed 6-8 homes being constructed in the Kirkridge Subdivision in Oakland Township by Moceri Homes, off of Adams Road between Silverbell and Dutton. These homes START at $600,000 according to the website. Naturally, my question is Why? I doubt that these companies wouldn't take the risk of building so many homes on spec in such a percarious economic situation, and I'm not naiive enough to believe that Michigan's economy has risen from the point of stagnation just. It could be nothing, but I just thought I'd point out such an unusual situation. Any insight?
Oakland County is growing and has low unemployment, so it isn't a surprise.
And $275,000 is fairly affordable for a brand new home in a nice part of Oakland County. The same home would cost much. much more in Bloomfield Hills or Birmingham.
$600,000 is high, though. I wouldn't pay that for Oakland Township, which is still out in the sticks. For that price, you can get something really nice in a more established community.
Even so, Oakland County isn't nearly what it once was. The inner-ring suburbs seem to be taking a turn for the worse, and foreclosures have pummelled prices even in north Oakland County, to where you can get a nice house with good schools for less than 100k in some areas. But I don't understand why you'd build a new home when comparable homes 5-6 years old are selling for nearly half of what you'd pay. In the Canterbury Woods subdivision in Orion off of Scripps Road (With the same floor plans as the Hills at Indianwood) homes are literally going for 250k and under. And these homes are actually short sales in good condition, not foreclosures. You could completely renovate one of these existing homes to your liking and still spend less money. Furthermore, a new home is a trap in Michigan... If you have to move, there's no possible way to sell it and recoup your entire investment. Just to give you some insight...
This home in one of Moceri's finished subdivisions is retailing for 540k, and it's 4,700 square feet! You cannot build a home with all of these upgrades and landscaping for 540k.
Oakland County is growing and has low unemployment, so it isn't a surprise.
And $275,000 is fairly affordable for a brand new home in a nice part of Oakland County. The same home would cost much. much more in Bloomfield Hills or Birmingham.
$600,000 is high, though. I wouldn't pay that for Oakland Township, which is still out in the sticks. For that price, you can get something really nice in a more established community.
Those prices are decievingly low. First of all, they don't include the cost of landscaping, decks and patios, which most people building a new home spend a small fortune on. The $275,000 price gets you the smallest floor plan with the cheapest options. I'm not saying that nobody does that, but I'm assuming that the vast majority of the people building there spend significantly more.
Location: Carmel Indiana, heart still in Michigan :)
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I wish someone would buy and build on the land the house I grew up in was. Dead end street in Southfield. 1.5 acres Hell there was a waiting list for people who wanted to live on that street when I was a kid. Now we can't give the lot away. Hope this is a sign it may sell someday soon.
The housing crisis resulted, in part, from a lot of bad decisions by home buyers. While many of those people have probably learned from their mistakes, there were other people who didn't feel any pain from the housing collapse for whatever reason. If those people are hands-on learners, they are probably buying new homes.
I've noticed a trend that seems diametrically opposed to Michigan's current direction: brand new homes sprouting up like weeds in some of north Oakland County's affluent suburbs. Granted, homebuilding never completely ceased. However, the fact that you can purchase a previously owned home for nearly half of its cost to build makes new construction a tough sell. Coupled with the crumbling job market, and homebuilding would seem stagnant at best. However, I've noticed a multitude of new homes being built, notably by Pulte and Moceri Homes. In Orion Township, both the Hills at Indianwood development off of Baldwin Road between Clarkston and Indianwood and The Ravines at Stonegate subdivision at the intersection of Squirrel and Dutton are hotbeds of construction activity. I noticed at least 4 and 6 new homes under construction, respectively. That's quite impressive for a region that's supposedly among the most miserable places on earth and on the brink of death. These homes aren't affordable either, they range from $275,000 to $500,000 in price. So you can imagine it was even more surprising when I noticed 6-8 homes being constructed in the Kirkridge Subdivision in Oakland Township by Moceri Homes, off of Adams Road between Silverbell and Dutton. These homes START at $600,000 according to the website. Naturally, my question is Why? I doubt that these companies wouldn't take the risk of building so many homes on spec in such a percarious economic situation, and I'm not naiive enough to believe that Michigan's economy has risen from the point of stagnation just. It could be nothing, but I just thought I'd point out such an unusual situation. Any insight?
For those builders that have survived the downturn they may be finding themselves at the point were they think its worth to take the risk again. Not only land is going so cheap now, but there are a lot of foreclosed developments sometimes half built that are going for a fraction of what they were going for just a few years ago.
Just less than a quarter of a mile from where I live there was a development that went bust a couple of years ago. They cleared the entire area, installed the utillities, built the model home and then everything went south and the property was foreclosed. After over two years of the property being abandoned a new builder bought and they are now starting to build again. The original plan (from the original builder) was to build over 200 attached condos for over 230k!!. Thanks God that did not happen. The new builder will build a lot less units and they are going to be single family homes with about 0.25 acre with asking price of about 200k, less than the original tiny condos. I'm happier now that they are building SFH instead of ugly condos and that they are building a lot less units, but still there are going to be over 100 units and who the heck is going to buy that!!
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