Detroit’s Home Auction Underway

DETROIT (WWJ) – Detroit’s home auction began Monday morning, with dozen houses are currently listed on the city’s new land bank website, BuildingDetroit.org. Most of them are in the East English Village neighborhood.

Monday, the home up for bid is at 4184 Bishop, near Mack and Outer Drive.  At noon, the highest bid was $17,400.

“We are moving aggressively to take these abandoned homes and get families living in them again,” Mayor Duggan said. “There are a lot of people who would love to move into many of our neighborhoods. Knowing that other people are going to be buying and fixing up the other vacant homes at the same time will make it a lot easier for them to make that commitment.”

Council President Brenda Jones said she is thrilled to see so much positive momentum and cooperation toward restoring the city’s neighborhoods and that this time, Detroit’s turnaround is real.

“People have walked away from great homes in their neighborhood because they thought their block had no future. Well, they left too soon,” Jones said. “It is a new day in Detroit and we have a Mayor and City Council that are working closely together to bring positive change for our residents.”

Today’s auction runs from 8am to 5pm and bids start at $1,000. Over 4,000 people were registered to take part in the bidding.

One home each day will be up for auction, which will run from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., when the auction closes. Once it closes, the winning bidder will be notified.

More information on the auction is available here.