Population Decline Issue
The population in Detroit has been declining since 1970, and it continues to do so.
In real estate, you generally want to avoid buying in areas where the population is declining.
The only exception would be if you have some kind of inside knowledge that population will be making a big turnaround.
Because of the consistent decline in population, it’s getting more and more important to make sure you’re buying in areas where there’s still demand for housing.
Impact on Property Values
Plus, if population is declining, that’s going to have a negative impact on property values.
There are other factors that impact property values outside of population trends.
With that considered, values will probably still go up over time, but they won’t go up at the rate that they would be if the population was going up, instead of down.
Related: Flip Detroit Homes | 11 Things that DON’T Improve Your House’s Value
Beware of Speculating
Some people believe that all of the new industries and jobs coming to Detroit (specifically downtown Detroit) will bring the population back up.
That’s more of a speculative point of view, in my opinion.
Yes, there are jobs and new industry emerging in Detroit, but it’s going to take a LOT more activity in that realm before it’s going to start really turning the population trends around.
Heck, in the last decade alone, Detroit’s population has dropped 25 percent.
Crime
My wife wanted to move to one of the nicer areas of Detroit (English Village) a few years ago, and I was against it.
Although there’s not much crime in English Village per se, you still have to get gas and groceries.
And I’m just not comfortable having my wife coming out of corner stores and stuff in the city, it’s just not worth it.
I think it’s true that you can get a lot “more house for your money” in the city than in the suburbs. But I can’t put a price tag on peace of mind.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a person that’s necessarily “afraid” to go into the city. I go in the city a few times a week on-average.
But I prefer to reside in the ‘burbs. Even the doggone Detroit police chief almost got carjacked not too long ago.