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Wayne County, Michigan

Mortgage Broker in Detroit, MI

Every Detroit home sits in one school district under one city millage, so what moves a Detroit loan is the house, its appraisal and the tax bill on that parcel. One Michigan broker shops it across multiple wholesale lenders.

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Buying a home in Detroit

Detroit has grown for three straight years, with about 649,000 residents counted in 2025, and its economy now reaches well past autos. Downtown holds roughly 80,500 jobs around Campus Martius and the Renaissance Center, including General Motors, Ally Financial, Blue Cross Blue Shield and DTE Energy, while Henry Ford Health, Wayne State University, the Detroit Medical Center and Stellantis's east-side assembly plants spread paychecks across the rest of the city.

Most of the housing is older brick: bungalows and two-flats, 1920s Tudors and Colonials in districts like Rosedale Park and East English Village, Victorians in Woodbridge, and mansions in Boston-Edison, Indian Village and Palmer Woods, with lofts and condos downtown and in Midtown. Redfin put the citywide median sale near $100,000 in spring 2026, and the typical home value has more than doubled over the past decade. Across the city, values run from about $45,000 to $60,000 in the industrial southwest tip (48217) and near $56,200 on the east side (48213), through roughly $95,000 to $107,000 in the far northwest (48219 and 48235), up to about $395,000 downtown (48226) and $411,000 in Midtown (48201). Sales in Corktown itself cluster near $425,000, while Zillow's typical value for the whole 48216 ZIP is near $242,600.

The spread runs between neighbouring ZIPs too: Bagley homes in 48221 under $150,000 sit minutes from $700,000-plus Palmer Woods mansions in 48203. Some ZIP codes Detroit shares cross into Highland Park, Hamtramck, Harper Woods and Redford Township, so the exact city line decides the tax bill and school district. Citywide, homes take about 54 days to sell.

By the numbers

Detroit housing and mortgage snapshot

Values move. Treat these as orientation and let us pull current figures for the address you are considering.

$100,000

Typical home value, from the market research on this page

+128%

Typical rise in taxable value the year after a home sells, 2026 Uncapping Study

1.86%

Property tax current owners pay, as a share of value. A buyer's bill can reset higher the year after a sale

28

Residential ZIP codes

What financing looks like in Detroit

Across the three months ending September 2026, half of Detroit's sales closed under about $100,000 by Redfin's count, and the typical home took about 53 days to go under contract. That sits far under the 2026 FHA limit for Wayne County, $541,287, and the 2026 conforming limit of $832,750. In most of the city the price is not what decides the loan. The condition of the house and what the appraisal supports usually do, because about four in five Detroit homes were built before 1960 by Census count.

An older house that needs a roof, a furnace or a new electrical panel can be bought with a renovation loan that rolls the work into the mortgage, and the appraisal is then made on the finished value. Houses sold by the Detroit Land Bank are a separate case: the buyer signs up to renovate and occupy them and the Land Bank keeps an interest in the deed until its compliance team releases it, so talk to us before you bid. Downtown and in Lafayette Park, some buildings are condominiums and some are cooperatives, where you buy shares instead of a deed, and each needs its own kind of review. A first-time buyer under MSHDA's income limits can add its MI 10K to a MI Home Loan: $10,000 for the down payment, owed back on a sale, a refinance, a payoff or a move out. Its $566,355 price cap is far above a typical Detroit sale.

Two local details shape the monthly budget. Detroit charges a city income tax of 2.4% on residents and 1.2% on nonresidents who work in the city, which comes out of take-home pay. And a house with a NEZ Homestead abatement gets separate tax bills for the land and the building, so the escrow account has to be set up to pay both.

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In a Detroit NEZ Homestead zone, an abated house gets two summer and two winter tax bills, one for the land and one for the building, and the owner has to make sure the mortgage company pays both.

Sub-markets

Detroit housing market by ZIP code

Most Detroit ZIP codes stay inside the city, but four that carry Detroit addresses reach into Highland Park, Hamtramck, Harper Woods or Redford Township, so check the city line before you budget. Each card's sale median is Redfin's figure for the whole ZIP code over July to September 2026, and its owner median is the Census survey of 2020 to 2024. A ZIP with few sales can swing widely. The 8 below are written up in full; the other 20 follow as a list.

ZIP 48201, near $377,000

Midtown, Brush Park, the Cass Corridor and the Cultural Center. Redfin's median sale was about $377,000, up about 16% on a year earlier, on only 16 September sales, so a few sales move the figure. The Census owner median is $412,600, and about 11% of homes are owner-occupied, most of them condos.

ZIP 48206, near $140,000

Recently sold homes in 48206 carried a median sale price near $140,000 in early 2026, by Redfin's count, up roughly 51% year over year, though a thin monthly sales count makes that figure swing, so treat it as a wide range. Homes averaged about 57 days on market, down from roughly 81 a year earlier. Much of the demand comes from historic-district restorations, and move-in-ready homes in Boston-Edison and Atkinson tend to sell first. Named areas: Boston-Edison.

ZIP 48207, near $179,000

Lafayette Park, Rivertown, Elmwood Park, Eastern Market and Belle Isle. Redfin's median sale was about $179,000, up about 13%, with about 83 days to sell. The Census owner median is $211,600, and only about one home in ten is a detached house, so co-op and condo rules come up often here. Named areas: Lafayette Park.

ZIP 48208, near $110,000

Most of 48208 trades in the low six figures, roughly $110,000, close to Detroit's citywide median of about $100,000. Prices spread widely inside the ZIP: Petoskey-Otsego homes can change hands under $90,000, while restored Woodbridge Victorians on the eastern edge reach $200,000 to $650,000. Demand comes from nearby Henry Ford Health and Wayne State, with Corktown to the south. Named areas: Woodbridge.

ZIP 48209, near $144,000

Southwest Detroit, from Mexicantown and Hubbard Farms out to Springwells and Delray. Redfin's median sale was about $144,000, up about 13%, and homes went under contract in about 35 days, faster than the city as a whole. The Census owner median is $89,000, about 61% of homes are owner-occupied and about two thirds are detached houses. Named areas: Mexicantown and Hubbard Farms.

ZIP 48214, near $285,000

Indian Village, West Village, Islandview and the Marina District. Redfin's median sale was about $285,000, up about 77%, a jump that says more about which homes sold than about a market-wide change, with 45 sales in September and about 76 days to sell. The Census owner median is $147,300. Named areas: Indian Village and West Village.

ZIP 48215, near $180,000

Closed sales in the Jefferson-Chalmers core of 48215 have run roughly $180,000 to $205,000, with renovated riverfront and canal properties past $300,000, well above Detroit's citywide median of about $100,000. Homes averaged around 54 days on market this spring and typically drew about one offer. Much of the demand comes from what sets this corner apart: private boat access and waterfront living. Named areas: Jefferson Chalmers.

ZIP 48221, near $185,000

Bagley, Sherwood Forest, the University District and the Livernois corridor, the ZIP with the most sales on this list, 125 in September. Redfin's median sale was about $185,000, up about 12%, with about 51 days to sell. The Census owner median is $154,600, and about four in five homes are detached houses. Named areas: Palmer Woods, Sherwood Forest and the University District, Bagley and Livernois.

More sub-markets

Other Detroit ZIP codes at a glance

  • ZIP 48202, near $224,000
  • ZIP 48203, near $60,000
  • ZIP 48204, near $77,000
  • ZIP 48205, near $65,000
  • ZIP 48210, near $68,900
  • ZIP 48211, near $85,000
  • ZIP 48212, near $112,000
  • ZIP 48213, near $56,200
  • ZIP 48216, near $242,600: Corktown
  • ZIP 48217, near $45,000
  • ZIP 48219, near $95,000
  • ZIP 48223, near $110,000: Rosedale Park and North Rosedale Park
  • ZIP 48224, near $90,000: East English Village and Morningside
  • ZIP 48225, near $145,000
  • ZIP 48226, near $365,000
  • ZIP 48227, near $68,000
  • ZIP 48228, near $80,000: Warrendale
  • ZIP 48234, near $70,000
  • ZIP 48235, near $107,000
  • ZIP 48238, near $79,000

City lines

Where a Detroit address leaves Detroit

Land shares come from the Census 2020 ZIP to place relationship file. A home in another city pays that city's millage and goes to that city's schools, even with Detroit on the envelope.

48203: about a third Highland Park

About 64% of the ZIP's land is in Detroit, including Palmer Woods, and about 36% is the City of Highland Park, whose 2025 homestead total was 63.22 mills with Highland Park City Schools.

48212 and 48211: Hamtramck inside the lines

About a third of 48212 and about 9% of 48211 lie in Hamtramck, a separate city surrounded by Detroit. Its 2025 homestead total was 49.94 mills with Hamtramck Public Schools, against Detroit's 64.18.

48239 and 48240: mostly Redford Township

About a fifth of 48239 and under 3% of 48240 are in Detroit. The rest is Redford Charter Township, where the 2025 homestead total ran 59.48 mills in Redford Union and 60.64 in South Redford schools.

48225 and 48236: the Harper Woods and Grosse Pointe side

Only about 2% of 48225 and about 5% of 48236 are in Detroit. Most of 48225 is Harper Woods, at 86.63 or 87.93 homestead mills in 2025, and most of 48236 is Grosse Pointe Farms, Grosse Pointe Woods and Grosse Pointe Shores.

Where to look

Detroit neighborhoods

Lafayette Park

East of downtown, the Mies van der Rohe townhouses and towers around Lafayette Plaisance and the park itself. Its two Census tracts are mostly buildings of ten or more units, with owner values near $252,000 to $289,000, both with wide margins, and typical homes from the mid-1960s. Several buildings, 1300 Lafayette East among them, are cooperatives: you buy shares in the corporation, the co-op board approves the buyer, and the loan is a share loan that fewer lenders make.

Corktown

West of downtown along Michigan Avenue and the Michigan Central station. Its Census tract shows owner values near $532,000, typical homes from before 1940, and a mix of detached houses (about 30%), two-unit flats (about 13%) and newer apartment buildings. Owners hold about a quarter of homes. Much of the neighborhood is a local historic district, so exterior work needs city review.

Woodbridge

West of Wayne State around Trumbull Avenue. Census figures for the tract that holds it show owner values near $324,000, a typical home from before 1940, and a housing mix that is about one fifth detached houses and one fifth two-unit flats, with larger frame houses split into apartments. Owners hold a little under one home in five.

Mexicantown and Hubbard Farms

The southwest side on Bagley and Vernor near the Ambassador Bridge, with Hubbard Farms' larger houses south of Vernor. The tract around Hubbard Farms shows owner values near $203,000 and about half its homes owner-occupied, and the Mexicantown tract near $222,000 with about 57% detached houses. Both have typical homes from before 1940 and margins of $57,000 to $70,000.

Boston-Edison

More than 900 houses on West Boston, Chicago, Longfellow and Edison between Woodward and Linwood, listed on the National Register. Its western tract shows owner values near $234,000 with about 95% of homes owner-occupied and 88% detached, the eastern one near $167,000. Census ZIP boundaries split it between 48206 and 48202.

Palmer Woods, Sherwood Forest and the University District

North of McNichols around Seven Mile, Livernois and the Detroit Golf Club. The tract that holds Palmer Woods and Sherwood Forest shows owner values near $448,000, about 94% owner-occupied and nearly all detached, and the University District tract near $369,000. Palmer Woods' streets fall mostly in the 48203 ZIP code, Sherwood Forest and the University District in 48221.

Bagley and Livernois

West of Livernois and south of Eight Mile, beside the shops of the Avenue of Fashion. Three tracts show owner values near $155,000 to $182,000, typical homes from about 1938 to 1951, and owners in about three of every five homes. One of them is about 29% two-unit flats, the rest mostly detached brick houses.

Rosedale Park and North Rosedale Park

On the northwest side around Grand River and the Southfield Freeway. Rosedale Park's tract shows owner values near $209,000, every home a detached house and about 88% owner-occupied, typical home from 1942. The two tracts of North Rosedale Park show owner values near $213,000 to $220,000, owners in more than nine of ten homes. Census ZIP lines split North Rosedale Park between 48219 and 48223.

Warrendale

The west side bounded by Greenfield Road, Joy Road and the city limits, with Dearborn on two sides and Rouge Park nearby. Its four tracts show owner values near $46,000 to $69,000, typical homes from the late 1940s, and 84 to 97% detached houses, with owners in roughly half to two thirds of homes.

East English Village and Morningside

The far east side near the Grosse Pointe line. East English Village's two tracts show owner values near $162,000 to $191,000, typical homes from before 1940 and owners in about seven of ten homes. Morningside's tracts run near $79,000 to $112,000, one with a wide margin, with owners in about four to seven homes of ten.

Indian Village and West Village

Burns, Iroquois and Seminole between Mack and Jefferson, a National Register district, and West Village just west of it. The Indian Village tract shows owner values near $520,000 with a wide margin and about 71% owner-occupied. West Village's tract is mostly apartment buildings, about 18% owner-occupied, with owner values near $270,000.

Jefferson Chalmers

The far east riverfront between Jefferson Avenue and the Detroit River, at Alter Road and the Grosse Pointe Park line, with canals behind many houses. Its three tracts show owner values near $105,000 to $193,000, all with wide margins, and owners in about two homes of three.

Schools and commute

Schools

Every Detroit parcel falls inside the Detroit Public Schools Community District by the Census district map, and Michigan Treasury's 2025 table carries a single school row for the city, so every Detroit homestead was taxed at the same 64.18 mills and every non-homestead at 82.18. Charter schools and schools of choice change where a child can enroll, not which district taxes the parcel. Highland Park and Hamtramck are separate cities inside Detroit's borders with their own districts, Highland Park City Schools and Hamtramck Public Schools, and Detroit mailing addresses reach into both, so the city line on the parcel record settles the district and the tax.

Commute

I-75, I-94, I-96, the Lodge Freeway (M-10) and the Southfield Freeway (M-39) all run through the city. Outside rush hour, the drive from the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center downtown is about 9 minutes to Henry Ford Hospital in New Center, 15 minutes to Dearborn, about 23 minutes to Southfield or Warren, 30 minutes to Troy and about 31 minutes, 23 miles, to Detroit Metro Airport. Auburn Hills is about 39 minutes and Ann Arbor about 52. DDOT runs the city buses, SMART the suburban routes, and the QLINE streetcar runs Woodward between downtown and New Center. The Census puts the average commute near 25 minutes, with about 5% of workers on transit and about 12% working from home. If you live or work in the city, plan for Detroit's city income tax as well.

Michigan property taxes

Detroit property taxes after you buy

The year after a Michigan home sells, its taxable value resets to half of the assessor's market value, so the seller's tax bill is not your tax bill.

In the City of Detroit, our 2026 Uncapping Study found taxable value typically rises about 128% the year after a sale. On a $100,000 home, near the typical Detroit value, the first-year tax goes up roughly $1,800 at the Detroit Public Schools Community District schools rate. We build your payment on that post-sale number.

Looking at a Detroit address? Our Michigan property tax calculator finds that property's published 2025 millage and works out the tax to plan for after you buy.

How Michigan taxable value works

In Samantha's words

County alone does not tell you much. We would never say you are in a particular county so here are your taxes. It does not work like that. We need the actual property.

2025 homestead millage

Detroit's tax rate beside its neighbors

Treasury's 2025 homestead totals, in mills, for Detroit and the places on its borders. Each mill costs $1 a year for every $1,000 of taxable value, so a 10-mill gap is about $500 a year once taxable value sits at $50,000.

Detroit: 64.18 mills

One rate for every Detroit homestead, about $3,210 a year on each $50,000 of taxable value. Non-homestead: 82.18.

Highland Park: 63.22

Close to Detroit's rate, with its own city and school levies.

Hamtramck and Dearborn: 49.94 and 50.87

About 13 to 14 mills under Detroit, roughly $700 less a year on $50,000 of taxable value.

Redford Township: 59.48 to 60.64

Depending on Redford Union or South Redford schools.

Grosse Pointe Park and Ferndale: 54.57 and 47.16

Ferndale's figure is with Ferndale schools. Southfield runs 57.02 with Southfield Public Schools.

Harper Woods: 86.63 to 87.93

Well above Detroit's rate, which matters because most of 48225 is Harper Woods.

Local resources

Check Detroit records yourself

The official offices behind the tax and school details on this page.

Before you sign

Six things to check on a Detroit house

Each of these is quick to look up for one address, and each has changed what a Detroit buyer paid or how the loan was set up.

  • The taxable value and any abatement. Look the parcel up through the Office of the Assessor and ask whether it carries a NEZ or another abatement. The assessor's office is at 313-224-3035 and the city's estimated property tax page explains its estimate for new buyers.
  • A local historic district. Many Detroit neighborhoods are local historic districts, where exterior work needs approval from the Historic District Commission. The city says unapproved work stays with the property after a sale and can complicate the transfer, so ask about open violations. Its exterior changes page explains the review.
  • The water bill and the drainage charge. Ask the seller for a recent water bill and read how DWSD figures the drainage charge.
  • The flood map. Search the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center. In a high-risk zone the lender requires flood insurance.
  • Plans to rent it out. A Detroit rental needs a Certificate of Compliance from BSEED after a 15-point inspection, and the home is then taxed at the non-homestead rate.
  • A Land Bank or co-op purchase. Read the Land Bank's compliance steps before an auction bid, or the co-op's board approval rules and fees before an offer in a cooperative building.

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Detroit mortgage questions

If yours is not here, ask it on the call. There are no dumb questions.

What are Detroit homes selling for in 2026?

Redfin’s median sale for the three months ending September 2026 was about $100,000, with about 53 days to go under contract. By ZIP code the median ran from about $144,000 in 48209 to about $377,000 in 48201, and each ZIP figure is thin enough to swing. The Census median of $83,900 is a different number again, the value owners put on their own homes in surveys taken from 2020 to 2024, sold or not.

Yes. Census ZIP boundaries put about 36% of 48203 in Highland Park and about 32% of 48212 in Hamtramck, and four fifths of 48239 is Redford Township. The Census geocoder places 1771 Balmoral Dr, Detroit 48203 in Detroit and 12050 Woodward Ave, Highland Park 48203 in Highland Park City Schools, and 12801 Mitchell St, Detroit 48212 in Detroit while Hamtramck’s city hall shares that ZIP. Each city taxes at its own millage, so we confirm the parcel first.

Michigan Treasury’s 2025 total for a Detroit homestead was 64.18 mills, about $3,210 a year on each $50,000 of taxable value. A home you rent out or keep as a second home pays the non-homestead total of 82.18 mills, 18 mills more. The Office of the Assessor’s estimate for new buyers uses next year’s tentative state equalized value times the city’s millage and leaves out city fees, abatements and special assessments, so we check the actual bill for the address.

A Neighborhood Enterprise Zone Homestead certificate cuts the City of Detroit and Wayne County operating millage in half on an owner-occupied house in a designated zone, which the city says typically saves 15 to 20%. The house must have been bought after 1996, you need a Property Transfer Affidavit and a Principal Residence Exemption on file, and you commit to at least $500 of repairs or improvements. The land and the building are then billed separately, two bills each season, and missing either can cost the abatement, so we tell the servicer to pay both.

Yes. The city’s income tax is 2.4% for residents and 1.2% for nonresidents on income earned in Detroit. Lenders qualify you on gross income, so it does not change the loan math directly, but it does come out of take-home pay, so we build the monthly budget after it.

That is decided address by address. Search the house on FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center before you write an offer. If it sits in a high-risk zone, the lender requires flood insurance on the loan, and the premium belongs in the monthly budget beside the taxes.

The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. Its bill carries a drainage charge based on the hard surfaces on the parcel that send rain into the sewer, with an automatic 25% credit for homes and no charge under 0.02 acres of hard surface. Ask the seller for a recent bill so you can see the charge for the parcel. DWSD Customer Care is 313-267-8000.

Sometimes, but plan for it before you bid. The Land Bank sells through auctions and Own It Now, and the buyer must renovate the house to its compliance requirements, file a Property Transfer Affidavit within 45 days, upload progress photos every 45 days and occupy the home. Its interest in the deed is released only when the work passes compliance, which limits how a lender can secure the loan. Many buyers use cash or a renovation plan set up in advance, so we look at the terms with you first.

Communities near Detroit

Wayne County overview

Guides for Detroit buyers

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Align Lending LLC, NMLS #2041154. Samantha Shelton, NMLS 1647301. Equal Housing Opportunity. Licensed in Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and Texas. Figures on this page are market research for orientation, not a quote. This page is for educational purposes only. It is not a credit decision, a preapproval, a commitment to lend, or an offer of credit.

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