The Keys to Midwest Housing Markets

Pete Saunders reports on two recent studies examining Chicago and Detroit. The research shows two cities that have more in common with the cities near them than those on the coasts. "Unlike Silicon Valley, moderate density urban/suburban housing stock is still affordable.“ Chicago's challenges lie in stimulating moribund housing markets, not in building more homes," Pete Saunders writes in Forbes. Saunders sees a similar supply dynamic in Detroit.

However, supply is not the only thing slowing demand for housing in the cities. "Chicago and Detroit both suffer from large areas that have long legacies of disinvestment, suffer from negative perceptions that hinder redevelopment opportunities, and housing styles and sizes that don't always match contemporary demand," Saunders reports.