Detroit, MI Rental Investment Market: DSCR & STR Numbers (June 2026)

The Read

What the numbers say about investing in Detroit

At 1.10% rent-to-price, Detroit, MI sits in the "1% rule" neighborhood — the territory where DSCR loans are easiest to qualify. When the median home runs $98,000 and average rent is $1,080 a month, the rent does most of the work of covering PITIA, which means standard 20%-down leverage usually clears lender thresholds without rate buy-downs or oversized down payments.

That ratio is above the 0.71% median of our 15-metro DSCR leaderboard, and Detroit, MI currently ranks #1 of 15 with a composite score of 89/100. Rent growth of 4.6% year over year is among the stronger prints on the board, which means a deal that squeaks by today should have more cushion at the first lease renewal. The catch is carrying cost: 1.94% effective property tax is on the heavy end, and taxes land inside PITIA, so they eat directly into the DSCR ratio.

Run the median deal at 20% down and today's indicative rate and you get roughly a 1.44 DSCR — above the 1.25 line where lenders offer their best pricing tiers. In practical terms: in Detroit, the typical property qualifies itself, and your negotiation energy goes into rate and prepay structure rather than scraping for coverage.

Detroit isn't on our short-term-rental board — the opportunity we track here is the long-term rental engine: Michigan lease economics, DSCR qualification, and rent momentum. Treat every number on this page as a metro-level screen, not an appraisal: rents and prices vary block by block, so run your actual address through the calculator and get a real quote before you write offers.

Data as of June 2026 — refreshed monthly. Metro-level estimates for screening, not underwriting.

Detroit investor FAQ