You probably don’t need us to tell you that Michigan’s economy is currently on low. We’re facing one of the worst housing meltdowns of all time, foreclosures are at near record levels, many people have lost their jobs, and a lot of once proud local business establishments are either shutting down or moving to more fertile ground.

(Incidentally, Dante Chinni has an interesting little take on our local economy in an item appearing in today’s The Christian Science Monitor: “In affluent Michigan, a firsthand look at the trickle-up recession.”)

In any event, if you’re thinking about buying, fixing up, and eventually flipping a property, you may want to read an article featuring our founder and CEO (Ralph R. Roberts) in this week’s edition of Crain’s Detroit Business:

For more, including Ralph’s own thoughts on flipping houses in this economy, read “Some area house flippers find upside to housing downturn” by Tom Andrew of Crain’s Detroit Business.

Between now and the time that next year’s Presidential election rolls around may prove to be one of the best times in history for Michigan real estate investors to score big when it comes to buying properties they plan on renovating and flipping. Home prices in Detroit are falling at the fastest rate in 16 years, Standard & Poor’s reported earlier today, which spells good news for flippers on the entry side of the house flipping equation.

Data released today by Standard & Poor’s for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices–a leading measure of U.S. home prices–shows a continuation of negative annual returns in what it calls the “10-City” and the “20-City” composite, which includes Detroit. Both composite indices have registered negative annual growth rates since the beginning of the year. In addition, both indices rate of decline has become larger in each of the seven months from January through July.

For those of you who like charts and graphs, click on the image below, which depicts the annual returns of the 10-City Composite and the 20-City Composite, and shows that the 10-City Composite was down 4.5% versus July of 2006, while the 20-City Composite was down 3.9% over the same time period:

Click on the table below for a summary of the most recent city-by-city results, which includes information for Detroit:

As we have said before, current market conditions are ushering in what we here at Ralph Roberts Realty believe to be a once in a lifetime opportunity to invest in real estate. Serious house flippers–especially those who are flush with cash–should consider now to be a great time to buy up flipable properties.

if you or someone you know is interested in investing in flipping properties, please contact our office. Our founder, Ralph R. Roberts, wrote the book on flipping houses the right way (”Flipping Houses For Dummies“).