Michigan Real Estate News

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Macomb County’s Big Red Orchard For Sale

The Big Red Orchard in Washington Township is on its way out. The site includes 11 buildings-a main barn, a market, a pair of residences, a retail shop, a cold storage building, a feed bar and a garage. Owner Ryan Moore is auctioning off the farm equipment and selling the property in November. Four years ago, Moore purchased the property known for apples, cider and doughnuts in order to supply the restaurants he had bought. Moore wants to divide the property into small sections for single-family home development.

 

 

Homeownership On The Rise In Detroit

For the first time in a decade, the majority of Detroit residents are home owners, according to new Census data. Data from the American Community Survey shows a large increase in the number of vacant units in the city. Detroit’s homeownership peak was in 1970 when 60 percent of the city’s residents were homeowners. Thirty years later, that figure had fallen to 55 percent. Foreclosures and population loss impacted 2012 data, dropping the data to 49.9 percent. By 2014, homeownership dropped again to 46.3 percent of residents. Increasing home ownership has been one of Mayor Mike Duggan’s goals since taking office.

 

Detroit Relies On Virtual Property Appraisals

The city of Detroit is using desktop appraisals to determine property values. Desktop appraisals involve looking at aerial photos of properties and information gathered from parcel maps, deeds and permits, in stead of going to look at it in person. They are a quicker way of keeping up with about 71,000 residential parcels that need to be valued each year. Up until 2017, 60 years had passed without Detroit finishing a comprehensive reappraisal of city property values. After playing catch up, the assessor’s office must keep current with a state requirement that 20 percent of properties be reassessed each year. Aerial technology aids the city in keeping up with the huge number of homes over about 140 square miles. The strategy has critics who say that aerial imagery can cause low-value property owners to be in over their heads when their properties are already over-assessed. A shortage of appraisers has contributed to the reliance on desktop appraisals.