The city of Detroit says it’s sold $1 million dollars worth of vacant homes that will be fixed up and occupied. Nearly 70 auctioned properties have been sold.
These are purchase commitments from bidders, not cash in hand, but reaching the million-dollar mark gives Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and the Detroit Land Bank some bragging rights.
Of the 16,000 properties the city owns, 2,000 are salvageable. At an open house of properties to be auctioned last month, Mayor Duggan said the city would start putting up two houses a day for auction.
“Well, we’re going to sell 400 before the end of this year. And, I think with the whole year next year, the numbers will grow a lot faster,” Duggan predicted.
The city now says if the auction continues at the same pace, more than 700 vacant homes will be sold next year.
The Detroit Land Bank indicates it plans soon to increase the number of homes auctioned on the website BuildingDetroit.org to three per day.
