UR MIME Reach the Detroit Jewish Community with a banner ad on detroitjewishnews.com • affordable cost • over 3,500 unique (unduplicated) visitors a day • For more information call Kevin at 248/354.6060 or e•mail us at salesejewish.com offers that diamonds or gold do not is that you can live in a house. You take something, put your money in it and watch it grow. "There's no doubt that readily avail- able mortgage money has helped the real estate industry by creating an affordability factor. If you had asked me this time last year whether interest rates would go lower, I would have said it was impossible," said Cohen. He draws a parallel to the "should've, could've, would've" people: those who say they wish they could have bought Wal-Mart stock when it was low. "If I had the opportunity right now that they have and let it slip past me, then in three or five years from now I'd be looking back and saying I wish I could have bought a house in 2003. I wish I had this opportunity as a young person," said Cohen, who admits he bought his first house when interest rates were at 22 percent. Michaelson, of the Farmington Hills-based Windmill Group, is "very upbeat" because of interest rates. Although he conceded some areas of his business are hurting, essentially business has been very consistent, "although our traffic was down a little bit last quarter. "It's funny, but in our business, even though the unemployment rate is higher, plenty of people are working. These are people who realized they can't afford depending solely upon the stock market, or their 401(k). They've realized that buying a house is the best investment you can make because housing has been going up 3 to 4 per- cent every year, and even as high as 7 percent, depending upon the area," said Michaelson. "People are getting into new homes with almost nothing coming out-of- pocket. They get mortgages that cover 95 percent and take out a sec- ond mortgage for the down payment. Even if interest rates go up slightly by the end of the year, they'll still be low," he said. Pent- Up Demand Gerald Brody, president of Brody Homes, builds custom luxury homes in markets like Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Franklin, West Bloomfield, on the lakes and in Metamora. "My criteria is that I only build within a 30-minute drive from my office in Birmingham," said Brody. He said the high-end luxury market started a downward cycle over the last 24 to 30 months. "Economic activity peaked in metro Detroit in September 2000. We've been in the doldrums for two years. Our lowest point was last fall, at the end of 2002. The auto companies weren't paying bonuses to senior executives or suppliers. And the international situation just stopped everything. "That's when I thought if I sold one house through the year's end, I'd be happy," said Brody, who kept busy fin- ishing up what he already had under contract. "But," he adds, "There are still people with money, although lots of people were hurt financially by the economy. These people are sitting on the sidelines with money and planning on building." Brody noticed a change for the bet- ter between last fall, early winter and now. "The international situation is still unresolved, but I believe it will be within a very short period of time. What we have to gauge is what is the depth of that pent-up demand." He added that people are tired of moving further and further out. "It's tough being Jewish," he quipped. One of the most optimistic builders is Steven Berger, vice president of BRG Custom Homes in Southfield. He said residential sales by the end of the first quarter are going to turn around and will start increasing. Why? Because "people have to start buying. Mortgage rates are at the level where if you are not refinancing or buying a new house, you're not taking advan- tage of rates that are at a 50-year low. I don't think the government can do much more to spur more activity." Berger compared the pent-up con- sumer interest to a dam. "The dam has to break, and when it does, a flur- ry of sales will happen. That may bring a spike in prices in the short run. I don't see any reason why people shouldn't be buying," said Berger. ❑ Go oN, DREAM... . LET HEBREW FREE LOAN CREATE THE REALITY. For over 100 years we have been giving start. people a Of Metropolitan Detroit Call us for an appointment today at (248) 723-8184 Short-Term Monthly Apartment Rentals WEST BLOOMFIELD AREA Furnished 1 or 2 bedrooms. Small, quiet complex. Includes all housewares. 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