In The Mitten

Falling Prices Stimulate Michigan Home Sales

The prices have plummeted, because so many people have lost their jobs as a result of the Auto Industry crisis that people are losing their homes and others still can't afford to buy. There are tons of houses on the market right now. Trust me, we are not in a "Real Estate recovery". It's just that some people are now being able to buy a home, because the price dropped so much. Once those people are done buying, sales will be back down and there will probably be even more foreclosures coming. The author obviously has no idea what's really going on.

Also, in case you can't figure it out... those houses for $18K are in the places where most people don't want to live. The people buying them can't afford anything better. Some of them are also being bought by landlords and being rented out, which doesn't show up in the sales figures. I'm pretty sure (but don't have actual info) that there's more renters than homeowners in the current situation.