business & professional >> economy

FARMINGTON HILLS INTERNISTS
IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE
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30055 NORTHWESTERN HWY, SUITES 150 AND 160

Providing excellence in care,
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dedicated to their
patients' health

• Accessible
location that has
comprehensive on
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Real Estate
Report Card

• Personalized
physician care
from your visit to
your phone calls

Grading the Metro Detroit real estate
market since the end of the recession
in June 2009.

PLEASE CALL TODAY TO SCHEDULE
YOUR APPOINTMENT WITH OUR PHYSICIANS:

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1982990

MONEY
LAUGHTER
WALTZES

THE

M ERRY

WIDOW

FRANZ LEHAR

APR 11-19, 2015

Sung in English with English supertitles

MICHIGAN

Featuring the versatile, dramatic soprano
DEBORAH VOIGT!
One of the world's most beloved singers
and enduring musical personalities.

Also featuring the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra

conducted by Gerald Steichen

TICKETS & PRE-PAID PARKING
313.237.SING or visit
michiganopera.org

FREE OPERA TALK
one hour prior to
performance

EIFOUNDATION

General Motors Foundation sapports
Michigan Opera Theatre

At the Detroit Opera House

SAT. APR 11, at 7:30 PM
WED. APR 15, at 7:30 PM
SAT. APR 18, at 7:30 PM
SUN. APR 19, at 2:30 PM

1996690

44 April 2 • 2015

I

f we were to grade the residential
real estate market, it would get a C.
Housing prices have recovered
but are exhibiting signs of moderation.
Single-family construction remains
depressed and is decelerating.
Multi-unit construction has not
improved but is showing signs of
recovery.
The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price
Index for Metro Detroit dropped 32
percent during the recession, which
lasted from December 2007 through
June 2009. Since the end of the reces-
sion through November 2014, the
index gained 39.8 percent.
The comparable figures for the S&P/
Case-Shiller 20 City Composite Index
are a decrease of 23 percent and an
increase of
22.2 percent.
Housing prices
have recov-
ered more in
Metro Detroit
than in the
20-city com-
posite index.
In the last six
months, there
Jonathan
is a noticeable
Silberman
slowdown in
housing price
increases in
Metro Detroit: June had a year- over-
year increase of 10 percent while
November registered a year-over-year
gain of only 2.3 percent.
Single family construction collapsed
during the recession and has not
recovered. In 2004, the peak year, the
Census Bureau reported 16,916 single

family housing starts in Metro Detroit.
At the end of the recession in 2009,
single-family housing starts plummet-
ed to 1,200. In 2014, the market had
improved to 4,751 single-family starts,
but that was a decline of 10.6 percent
from 2013. The experience in Metro
Detroit is similar to the nation, with
single-family housing starts remain-
ing substantially below pre-recession
levels.
Where Metro Detroit diverges
from the nation is in multi-family
construction. A surge in apartment
construction followed the housing
bust, but not in Metro Detroit, which
has among the lowest percentage of
population in rental housing of any
major metropolitan area at 33 percent,
according to American Factfinder
2013. Local builders are now respond-
ing with 1,386 multifamily starts in
2014, up from 778 in 2013, according
to the Home Builders Association of
Southeastern Michigan.

Office Grade: D
Improvement in the Downtown
Detroit office market is offset by weak-
ness in the suburban markets.
Central Business District (CBD) real
estate accounts for only 22.5 percent of
total office space in Detroit, among the
lowest of all metro areas.
Suburban vacancy rate is high com-
pared with other cities and average
asking rent is low.
Office vacancy rates have declined
in the Downtown market to 17.7 per-
cent in Q4 2014 from 26 percent in Q2
2009, and average rent per square foot
has increased to $21.86 from $20.10.

