What's up with West Bloomfield?

A visitor from another planet who just looked at the real estate charts and statistics for West Bloomfield Michigan might conclude that this must be a poor area with a badly distressed economy. I suppose that last part might be partially true, but West Bloomfield is anything but a poor area. It is just an area that has been hit hard by the recession and which is still reeling, with distressed home sales (foreclosures and short sales) running above 70% of all home sales thus far in March and about that same level so far year-to-date.



The Average Median Price of homes sold in West Bloomfield has struggled back up a bit since the new year started, but the high percentage of distressed sales is keeping things artificially low right now. West Bloomfield homes have sold so far this year for an average of 1.5369 times their SEV values and about $72/Sq Ft. That means that a home with an SEV of 150,000 that the assessor says is worth $300,000 would likely have sold this year for $230,535. No wonder Tums sales are up in West Bloomfield.

West Bloomfield is an older, fairly well built out community, with many "upscale subs that were built in the late 70's and 80's. Those homes, many originally built for around $85-100K (big money back then) had appreciated to nearly $300,000 before the bubble burst. Now sellers are lucky to get $130-150K for them. Unfortunately for many, the value of their homes was a large portion of their retirement nest egg - a nest egg that has largely vanished. For others, their homes were like piggy banks that they kept taking money our of to pay for various other toys and now many are trapped in homes which are severely underwater on value vs. the mortgages.