A Tight Housing Market, in Detroit?

Curtis Johnson details an unexpected trend in downtown Motor City, where a spike in housing demand may hint at the comeback promised in Chrysler's famed Superbowl ad.

2 minute read

July 7, 2012, 5:00 AM PDT

By Ryan Lue


In a city that has come to symbolize industrial collapse and suburban flight, a housing shortage is just about the last thing you'd expect to see. But a housing shortage is precisely what young professionals are finding as they flock into downtown and Midtown Detroit.

More precisely, it's apartments that are being snapped up left and right, leading to occupancy rates as high as 96 percent. "So it doesn't matter much that the median housing price in Detroit is parked at around $10,000," Johnson explains, "or that, as the Detroit Free Press recently reported, most sales of good houses in stable areas are for less than $75,000. Young people moving to Detroit want to rent."

As businesses – particularly those in knowledge-based industries – have begun to move back downtown, demand for rentals has skyrocketed. Johnson points out that "sustainable demand for good rentals is not that hard to imagine. In recent years employers such as Quicken Loans, Blue Cross, and Compuware have moved close to 9000 workers from outside the city to downtown. Cultural and arts institutions such as the Detroit Institute of Arts and the College for Creative Studies line the shoulders of Midtown's Woodward Avenue. A thriving and large urban university, Wayne State, anchors the heart of the corridor. Vanguard Health System is pouring a billion dollars into the Detroit Medical Center."

Supply, on the other hand, has failed to keep up with demand on account of banks' exceeding hesitance to finance construction for new housing. In the wake of the collapse of the housing market, new loan requirements have left developers in what Olga Stella of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation calls "a slump of low confidence." According to Stella, even in spite of strong indicators of recovery, building the rental capacity that Detroit needs is "slow, hard work, one project at a time."

Saturday, June 30, 2012 in Citiwire

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Blue and silver Amtrak train with vibrant green and yellow foliage in background.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

July 14, 2025 - Smart Cities Dive

Worker in yellow safety vest and hard hat looks up at servers in data center.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power

Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

July 18 - Inside Climate News

Former MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood standing in front of MARTA HQ with blurred MARTA sign visible in background.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns

MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

July 18 - WABE

Rendering of proposed protected bikeway in Santa Clara, California.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant

A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.

July 17 - San José Spotlight