Detroit Metro Homebuilders Going Back to Work

Permits to build single-family homes are up 18.5% through August in southeast MI

A tight market for move-in-ready homes in metro Detroit has pushed some builders back into action. Building permits for single-family homes are up 18.5% this year through August in southeast Michigan, according to Housing Consultants of Clarkston.

"What's happening to us is fairly dramatic," said Paul Robertson, chairman and CEO of Robertson Brothers in Bloomfield Hills. "In the third quarter ... we've already sold more than in the first two quarters combined."

"The market still isn't back, but they were at almost zero," said Dan Elsea, president of brokerage services at Southfield-based Real Estate One.

(More on housing revival in Detroit . . . )

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