Detroit is a top metro for Craftsman homes
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Colonial and American traditional are the most popular home styles on Metro Detroit's housing market — and fierce competition for cheaper homes is driving up their prices, according to a recent Realtor.com report.
The big picture: National median asking prices for Colonial and traditional homes, some of the most affordable styles, jumped 5.6% in May from a year earlier.
- That's the biggest increase of any architectural style researchers analyzed.
What they're saying: "In general, higher-price home styles have appreciated less than lower-priced styles in the past year, a nod to economic and policy uncertainty as well as the rising cost of ownership," Realtor.com's Hannah Jones wrote in the report.
Zoom in: Detroit is among the top three metros nationwide for Craftsman homes — priced lower than Colonial and traditional styles, at a median of $170,000 vs. $430,000 — per the report.
- Craftsman is the third-most common style here, having a long history in the Detroit area.
- "These homes are known for built-in cabinetry, tapered porch columns, and exposed woodwork — features that speak to Detroit's deep architectural roots and love of craftsmanship," another Realtor.com article says.
Reality check: No matter the look, home prices around the country have soared since the pandemic. The median U.S. home sold in the first quarter cost roughly $417,000 — 33% more than in 2019, according to federal data.
- In Metro Detroit, the median sale price is up 3.3% from last June to nearly $349,000, per Re/Max of Southeastern Michigan. In June 2021, the median sale price was $283,000.
The bottom line: Homebuying trends in Metro Detroit are tough to generalize, as some areas see prices fall and remain on the market, while others are experiencing jumps, like Detroit, where prices rose 33% compared with last June, per Re/Max.
- In Macomb County, for instance, prices dropped nearly 1%.