Is Michigan's Housing Crisis Over?

LANSING (WWJ) - Is Michigan's Housing market out of the woods?

The CEO of the Home Builders Association of Southeastern Michigan believes it is.

Michael Stoskopf said requests for the permits needed to build new homes were over up over 40-percent in March compared to the same period in 2012.

"The recovery in the housing market in southeast Michigan has come off the bottom," Stoskof told WWJ Newsradio 950's Sandra McNeil. "We've seen sustained growth for a year and a half and all indications are that that will continue.

Where are the new homes being built? Oakland County, mostly, with 152 permit requests. Macomb and Wayne round out the top three. Better news he says, can be found in Detroit. There have been 124 requests for new home permits in the city this year, compared to just two in the first period of 2012.

And Stoskopf said it's not just the number of permits -- it's the price of the new homes that is on the rise, too. The average price of the new homes being built in Detroit is 57-percent higher than last year.

"With existing home inventories being at such low levels, it's now surprising we're seeing that new construction," Stoskopf said. "Hopefully it will continue through the summer season."