Seven Takeaways from Local Real Estate Agents for the Spring/Summer Market

What to expect for the biggest 2024 home buying season

The last few years in local real estate have been akin to what one local agent described as the “wild west,” with norms and conventions thrown out the window as buyers scrambled for homes in the strongest sellers’ market in decades.

Today, local agents agree that aside from some holdouts—waterfront property is still red hot—the overall market has settled back into a more reasonable place in 2024. Northern Express connected with several experts to find out what’s trending in the local market and what they expect to see over the next several months. These are their top seven takeaways.

1. There Are More Buyers Than Homes

Among the biggest factors driving the recent surge in prices were rock-bottom interest rates, which fell as low as 2.5 percent in 2021. With buyers able to afford more, prices rose accordingly. But as interest rates steadily climbed over the last few years to around 7 percent currently, prices softened and most of the bidding madness ended.

Still, prices remain much higher than they were only five or six years ago, and a relative lack of housing means that’s unlikely to change anytime soon, regardless of interest rates.

“Buyers are definitely being a bit more discriminating as far as waiving any contingencies like home inspections,” said Craig Lively, a longtime agent who owns RE/MAX Lighthouse in Petoskey. “But it’s still a sellers’ market. We still have more buyers than we do homes.”

Mike Annelin of Century 21 Northland in Traverse City echoes those sentiments.

“Demand outweighs supply for sure, and I think there’s a lot of people sitting on the sidelines waiting for more supply to hit the market,” he says. “I doubt there will be enough, and you might see prices climb again.”

2. New Blood Is Coming to Town

Another factor likely to keep prices high for the foreseeable future in an area like the Grand Traverse region is that more people are working remotely, allowing them to relocate to more desirable destinations.

“Now that people can work from home and don’t have to go in as much, it’s changing a lot of things,” says Shawn Schmidt Smith of Coldwell Banker in Traverse City. “These beautiful parts of the world are becoming more expensive.”

And as Traverse City shows up on more and more “top 10” lists for food, culture, and natural beauty, another group of folks with money to spend also has Traverse City in its sights perhaps more than ever before.

“We’re seeing more retirees coming here…wanting to make it their primary residence more than just the summer,” Annelin says. “So you’ve got a ton of demand from all avenues, and that’s what’s going to keep the pricing high.”

3. Prices Rise with the Temperature

While many of the traditional patterns and cycles aren’t what they used to be, one thing remains true: home sales are busier in the warmer months and 2024 promises to be another bustling summer real estate season.

“Generally speaking, I think that you find that housing prices definitely climb in the spring and early summer,” Annelin says. “It's a more convenient time to buy, and I think people are more excited about making a change going into the summer.”

4. Small-Town Living Is Hot

While what every buyer wants is different, rural areas and smaller communities seem to be hotter than any time in recent memory, agents say. Lively says he’s seeing an increasing number of people moving north who wish to avoid the immediate Traverse City area altogether due to how crowded and pricey it’s become.

“As towns like Traverse City become more congested, towns like Petoskey, Harbor Springs, Boyne City, and Charlevoix are becoming more desirable as either primary home or those vacation locations,” he says.

The far reaches of northern Michigan counties are also heating up, at least in part due to recent expansions in fiber optic networks, wireless internet and more. This means buyers have to give up less when they decide to buy a home out in the proverbial “sticks.”

“What [the fiber optic expansion] has done is made the outer rural recesses of these counties a more desirable choice for families that want to get away and still work from home and have that high-speed internet access,” Lively says.

Schmidt Smith says she believes Lake Anne, Kingsley, and East Bay Township are up-and-coming locations in Grand Traverse County, all of which offer their own benefits while being relatively close to the action and attractions of Traverse City.

5. Property Tax Woes Plague the Cities

Another item pushing folks from in-town areas is a decreased tax burden, Annelin says. Property tax in cities has always been higher than in the surrounding townships, but skyrocketing home prices have brought such taxes into sharper focus.

“Property tax can get expensive at these price points,” he says. “It’s always part of the discussion, but when you’re talking about a house that used to be $600,000 and now it’s a million, that’s a big tax jump. You have people that might be able to afford that million dollar house but are retired and on a fixed budget, so if the taxes are going to be $18,000 a year, it pushes them to a different location.”

6. Turnkey Properties Appeal

In terms of the ideal home itself, Annelin says a lot of buyers are aware of how hard it is to pin down contractors, meaning there’s a strong demand for finished homes that won’t need a lot of work.

“It’s hard to find people to get things done, and people don’t want to deal with moving into a house and then having to find a contractor,” he says. “If you have a finished home that’s pretty much turnkey, you’re going to have a better chance of getting it sold quickly compared to a home that might need some work.”

But demand for all types of homes is high, and the list of buyers is seemingly endless. This means buyers should prepare to be quite flexible with their list of preferred home attributes.

“If you want to live in this area right now, you have to be content with the best we can find for you,” Schmidt Smith says.

7. There Are Creative Solutions

Whether you’re selling or buying, working with a licensed, experienced real estate agent will be the best bet for navigating the current market. They’ll also be the first to give you little gems like this: If you’re buying, find out if you can assume the seller’s mortgage. While relatively uncommon, this practice can save a buyer time and money, and possibly allow them to enjoy a lower interest rate.

“It definitely cannot hurt to ask,” Schmidt Smith says.

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