[electric_lady]

I am thinking of returning to Michigan within the next two years to attend grad school and will be looking to buy a house with decent property. Are there any signs that housing prices are beginning to rise, or do you think they'll still be about the same in two years? I'm looking mostly in Washtenaw county.
I personally don't see the housing market in Michigan coming back until we have a new industry in the works.
Thanks for any and all opinions.

[Sparrow_temp]

I wouldn't expect to see housing prices rise much in MI unless it's part of a National devaluing of our currency (ie hyperinflation). There are many that think that this may be inevitable given the current increases in government spending but if it happens -- MI would probably be so bad off that you'll be more interested in leaving the state than hanging on to property that nobody there can afford to buy. I personally don't see why MI's trend toward negative net migration would not continue so housing prices will probably go down or simply stabilize rather than increase much.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by Sparrow_temp

I wouldn't expect to see housing prices rise much in MI unless it's part of a National devaluing of our currency (ie hyperinflation). There are many that think that this may be inevitable given the current increases in government spending but if it happens -- MI would probably be so bad off that you'll be more interested in leaving the state than hanging on to property that nobody there can afford to buy. I personally don't see why MI's trend toward negative net migration would not continue so housing prices will probably go down or simply stabilize rather than increase much.

I don't know if you can make blanket assessments like that. That would be like saying "don't invest in any company right now because the entire economy is bad." And the negative net migration was less than 1% last year, and that was for the entire state. There were some areas with population growth.

As far as the OP, I'd say home prices in Washtenaw County might be the same or lower in two years. If you're thinking about buying now to catch home prices before they go up, I don't think that's necessary.

[michigan83]

I hope not. I think I'm still a year or so away from buying my Michigan dream home, so I hope I haven't missed the boat of rock-bottom home prices. I'm selfish. Sorry

[sike0000]

We might still be bottoming out in two years but who knows.

But you don't have to wait. I bought last July. We paid what the home sold for in the early 90's from looking at it's history. So there are deals out there.

But there are still a lot of foreclosures and people leaving so the prices are going to continue to plummit for the near term.