In August 2026, the City of Detroit's median sale price was $95,000. That was down 17.4% from $115,000 a year earlier, across 370 sales, according to Realcomp's monthly market table. Three months earlier, in a June 3, 2026 memo, the City Planning Commission put the estimated sale price of new single-family houses on Belvidere and Holcomb in East Village at $550,000 to $650,000. Both numbers are accurate, and the gap between them is where a contract on a new house can get stuck. A lender orders an appraisal, the appraiser looks for comparable sales, and almost nothing nearby looks like a brand-new house with a 15-year tax abatement attached.
The useful question for someone thinking about one of these houses is what the price is made of. A meaningful part of it is a tax break the buyer is paying for at closing.
The appraisal problem starts with the citywide numbers
Detroit's August numbers describe a city of mostly older housing that sells in a slower, cheaper market. Average days on market rose to 51, up from 47 a year earlier. Active inventory at the end of the month was 2,971 listings, up 5.3%. Wayne County as a whole posted a $230,000 median for the same month.
On that same August table, the row closest to an East Village new build's price is Grosse Pointe Areas, with a $505,000 median across 87 sales, up 25.3% from $402,950. So a buyer looking at a new house a few blocks off Kercheval is paying close to the going rate for the suburbs next door, while every nearby resale in the record reflects Detroit pricing. An appraiser has to bridge that.
What the city memo says a Belvidere house costs
The June memo covers seven NEZ certificate applications from GWH 2025 LLC. The developer is Greatwater Homes, a venture of Greatwater Opportunity Capital. The lots are 1577 and 1583 Belvidere and 1515, 1516, 1522, 1748 and 1803 Holcomb, located on the west side of Belvidere just south of Kercheval and on Holcomb between Kercheval and Agnes. The lots are vacant today. The houses are buyer-customized, with four layouts, detached garages off the rear alleys, and sizes from 1,000 to 1,850 square feet depending on the bedrooms and bathrooms the buyer picks.
| Source | What it shows | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| City Planning Commission memo, June 3, 2026 | Unit cost to build | $275,000 to $425,000 |
| City Planning Commission memo, June 3, 2026 | Estimated sale price | $550,000 to $650,000 |
| Greatwater Homes plan page, current | Alden, 1,000 sq ft, 2 bed | Starting at $335,000 |
| Greatwater Homes plan page, current | Ellsworth, 1,325 sq ft, 2 bed | Starting at $365,000 |
| Greatwater Homes plan page, current | Bellaire, 1,513 sq ft, 3 bed | Starting at $415,000 |
| Greatwater Homes plan page, current | Charlevoix, 1,840 sq ft, 3 bed | Starting at $440,000 |
The builder's starting prices and the memo's estimates differ by a wide margin. The plan page shows base prices before finish and upgrade choices. The memo says buyers pick size and upgrades "so they can design their home at a price that works for them." Treat the website figure as the floor and the memo as the city's estimate of the range. Neither one tells you what a particular contract will close at.
The memo also describes these as market-rate homes. It says they are meant to be more affordable through careful design, energy efficiency beyond code, and the NEZ. That last item does most of the work.
Where Detroit's missing value comes from
In February 2026, the American Enterprise Institute's Housing Center published a case study on Detroit's appraisal gap. It explains why so little new housing gets built in the city while the suburbs keep building. Its explanation is property tax. In 2023, Detroit's combined millage on a principal residence was 69 mills. The same year it was 38 in Royal Oak and Berkley, 45 in Huntington Woods, and 49 in Ferndale. AEI's argument is that buyers price the higher annual tax bill into what they will pay. That holds sale prices down, so appraised values fall short of construction costs.
AEI's worked example is simple. A house costs $300,000 to build with profit, the market will pay $250,000, and the $50,000 difference means nothing gets built. For decades, that was the story for vacant lots in neighborhoods like East Village.
The abatement is already in the price
Detroit's NEZ New Construction program cuts the taxable value of a new home's improvements by 50% for 15 years. It applies only to owner-occupants, and the land stays fully taxable. The memo asks City Council to approve 15-year certificates for all seven Belvidere and Holcomb addresses. AEI describes two ways that saving closes the appraisal gap. A buyer who knows they will pay less tax for years builds the present value of those savings into the price they offer. The appraiser then adjusts upward any comparable sales that lack an abatement.
AEI is direct about who benefits. In its words, the abatement "effectively incentivizes new development by raising the prices that builders can command for new construction, rather than primarily benefiting the buyers of these homes."
That changes how a buyer should read the purchase. A lower tax bill is what makes a $415,000 or $550,000 price possible on a block where Detroit's citywide comps sit far lower. You pay for much of that tax break at closing, then get it back gradually through 15 years of reduced bills. The arithmetic also has a clock on it. The abatement shrinks with each year you own the house, because fewer years of savings remain. A house sold in year ten offers its next buyer five years of reduced taxes, and that is worth less than fifteen.
The East Village zone is not new. City Council established the East Village Amended NEZ on January 11, 2005. It covers more than 100 acres and grew out of a 2001 request by the Jefferson Ave. Housing Development Corp. that was expanded to take in Whittier Manor. Timing still matters for each house. The memo notes that under the state NEZ Act, an application must be filed before a building permit is issued or within six months after. The Belvidere and Holcomb applications are dated February 19, 2026. AEI adds that designated areas must be approved locally and certified by the State Tax Commission.
The comps that matter are on Fischer Street
If an appraiser has to adjust non-abated comps to match an abated house, the most useful sales are other abated new builds nearby. East Village has a small set of them now.
Greatwater's first phase launched on Fischer Street in May 2024 with 18 lots and 12 designs, on 30-by-100-foot lots near the Little Village arts development. Urbanize Detroit reported that two of the three completed homes went under contract within a week. At launch, a 1,513-square-foot three-bedroom was listed at $439,000. Two pending homes had been listed at $459,000 for 1,840 square feet and $339,000 for 934 square feet. The Bellaire on the plan page now shows that same 1,513-square-foot footprint starting at $415,000. A starting price before finishes isn't the same thing as a 2024 list price for a finished house, so a writer or a buyer shouldn't read a trend into the two.
By April 2025, Crain's Detroit Business reported that the homes were finding buyers. Co-founder Matt Temkin told the paper there had been five closings, one more pending that month, and another half-dozen houses under contract. Builders were wrapping up Fischer between Kercheval and St. Paul and moving to Belvidere four blocks away. Temkin expected 15 starts in 2025 and 25 to 30 in 2026. No public 2026 count of completed or sold homes has turned up since then. Those Fischer Street closings are the closest thing the Belvidere and Holcomb houses have to a direct comp. Each new closing at a supported price adds a data point for the next appraisal.
The neighborhood has been waiting for this kind of construction for a while. "East Village used to be full of families and businesses, with people on every block," Delores Orr of the East Village Association said at the 2024 launch. "It is so wonderful to see new construction and excited homeowners once again."
Questions to settle before ordering a lot and a model
Greatwater says its homes take 8 to 10 months from groundbreaking to move-in. It also advertises up to $10,000 toward a new home through Move Detroit for eligible buyers. A build that long gives the appraisal time to become a problem before move-in. These questions are worth answering early, with your lender and your own tax and legal advisors where it applies:
- Which comps will the appraiser use? Ask your lender whether the appraisal will rely on abated new-construction sales nearby, such as the Fischer Street closings, or on older resales that need large adjustments.
- What happens if the appraisal comes in low? Read the purchase agreement for how a shortfall is handled before you choose upgrades that raise the contract price.
- Is the NEZ certificate approved for your specific address? The Belvidere and Holcomb certificates went to City Council in June 2026 and then require State Tax Commission review. Confirm the status of your lot.
- What is the tax bill with the abatement, and what is it without? The abatement covers half the taxable value of the improvements, and the land is taxed in full. Get both estimates so you know what the bill will look like in year 16.
- How many abatement years would a future buyer get? If you might sell before year 15, that remaining term is part of what you would be selling.
Pricing a new build in East Village comes down to valuing an abatement, a set of Fischer Street comps, and an 8-to-10-month build alongside the house itself. If you are weighing a Greatwater contract or comparing one with an older home a few blocks away, Elizabeth Tintinalli can go through the comps and the abatement terms with you before you sign. Let's connect.
