Death of a City

How low can homes go? Try $0:

Detroit real estate agent Ian Mason has sold homes for $1.

When I asked him to check the listings for other properties at that price, he found four more.

He then took me to a white, clapboard-sided house that his company, Bearing Group Real Estate Brokerage, has listed.

"If you want this house, you can have it," he said. "I'll just give it to you."

"I'm not allowed to accept anything of value from a source," I told him.

"Who said I was giving you anything of value?" he replied.

By contrast, the median price of a home sold in Detroit last month was $7,500... down 50 percent from last year.

Mason counted 1,228 homes listed for under $10,000, 209 of which were under $1,000.