35 of the hottest housing markets in Michigan

That’s not true in every community. However, for much of southern Lower Michigan, a lack of supply on the market is creating a fast turnaround time, from offer to closing.

Data from Realcomp released this morning made that point, with 22 communities in Southeast Michigan listed as the places in March where sales were happening within 35 days of listing. These averages were made on residential properties in places with 10 or more sales that month.

This list includes those communities, plus what I could find from other areas. That includes the Grand Rapids area, which has been identified nationally as one of the hottest housing markets. It also includes Ann Arbor, where the average single-family  sold price in March was $74,000 higher than a year earlier. Not on the list: Northern Michigan, which holds its data a little more closely.

Not all of these communities are seeing dramatic price increases along with the low days-on-market average, but it is possible that will follow.

Many of these places are ranked just on single-family sales, with the listing information also excluding condos. A few include condos, which tend to take a bit longer to sell, on average.

They start with 39 days on market, and end at 14.

Kalamazoo’s Realtors publicly share many data points about the market with residents. That includes breaking down the days on market detail to the neighborhoods. This is one of five on this list, because they involve more than 10 sales in March. This area is in Kalamazoo Township, northeast of downtown. Its average sale climbed $4,000 in March to $79,450.

This community is east of Ann Arbor and home to Eastern Michigan University. The data combines the city and township of Ypsilanti, which together have about 100,000 residents. Properties sold much faster in March than a year ago, when the average days on market was 75; however, the average price also fell, going to $141,728 from $148,654.

This city west of Grand Rapids had an average sold price of $198,332 for the first quarter of 2017, representing 50 sold homes. There are 47 homes listed today in that community, ranging from about $130,000 to over $800,000.

Dearborn is one of the largest cities in the state, and Dearborn Heights has close to 60,000 residents. This area’s real estate board saw a significant drop in days on market in March, with the Dearborn Hills area near Ford and Telegraph selling in about 27 days.

This northern suburb of Kalamazoo has just six houses on the market right now, with the most recent (and highest) priced at $159,900.

This diverse city within the Detroit city limits is known for its Polish heritage and gets attention for its annual paczki sales on Fat Tuesday. There are 31 listings there today, with some of them including duplexes and other multi-family properties, reflecting much of the housing stock. Most listings are under $100,000.

North of Detroit,  near the Troy-Auburn Hills business epicenter and home to Oakland University, Rochester has 32 homes on the market. Prices are well over $500,000 for newer construction and large floorplans; smaller homes start in the $200,000 range.

When adding nearby and larger Rochester Hills, the market expands to about 140 listings.

This city just north of Detroit along the Woodward corridor is known for its entertainment scene. It also has a number of older homes, which people have been renovating for several years. There are 22 homes listed in the city today, with five more listed in the school district in neighboring Royal Oak Township. There are still some bargains at around $125,000, but five properties are closer to $300,000 or more.

This community is defined in part by Whitmore Lake, which is located off of US-23 north of Ann Arbor. The township includes mailing addresses for several communities, including South Lyon. The school district extends north into Livingston County. Only 2 properties sold in the school district in March, with average days on market in the single digits: 6.

This neighborhood has 16 houses for sale, with prices hovering around $100,000.

This community  is red-hot, according to multiple real estate metrics. One issue: Low inventory. The area started the year on a national list that noted where very few homes are reaching the resale market. The average sold price is $174,330.

Read more here.

Novi has been described as a “fast-growing community” for decades now, with the proximity to key highway interchanges of I-96, I-696, M-10 and US-23 keeping it prominent. It’s also a major shopping district. There are 62 homes for sale, with very few in the $200,000 range or lower. Home sizes in that community tend to be larger, with many over 3,000 square feet.

Washtenaw County’s largest city and home to the University of Michigan is seeing about the same number of listings as in 2016, but the prices are climbing. The average property sold in March was $482,591, up from $408,294 in 2016. And the average days on market fell from 60 to 32.

If you call up this community on Realtor.com, you’ll get the same listings as if you seek info on the smaller Wolverine Lake, located within it. Houses in that smaller region are selling more quickly, but the broader community north of Novi in the Oakland County lakes region is doing well, too.

The Pinckney school district and mailing address is a broad area with 77 listings. The village at the center of it is much smaller, with only about 7 homes listed today. This community includes many lakes and nature areas.

This is the 9th largest city in Michigan. It grew in the 1960s and 1970s, then  newer construction in the 1990s pushed it past the 100,000 person milestone. Today, there are 105 houses listed for sale in this town of about 95,000 people.Prices go from $69,900 to over $500,000.

This portion of Washtenaw County, south of Ypsilanti, is home to many newer subdivisions that started before the downturn and picked up in recent years. The average selling price in March was $217,264, up from $189,460 a year earlier.

Kentwood is south of Grand Rapids, located along the M-6 connector – a development generator for homes and business. Today, there are 67 houses listed for sale. A few hover around $100,000; most are closer to $200,000. The average price this year so far is $168,933.

This is a Woodward corridor community in Oakland County, near Royal Oak (which is in the photo) and north of Ferndale. It also has its own vibrant downtown  business district on Twelve Mile. Thirty-two houses are listed, with four under $200,000. And 12 of the houses are new construction, priced from $389,000 to $489,000, showing the value of in-fill construction in the inner-rim suburbs.

This community northwest of Flint borders Saginaw County. There are 18 homes listed – and the lowest price is $10,500. The highest is $397,600.

This Oakland County suburb also borders Detroit, and a lot of its housing stock dates to the 1950s as many Detroiters starter their migration to the northwest. Today, there are 33 homes listed – and some agents tout this city’s proximity to the nightlife in Ferndale. The lowest price is $47,000, while the highest is $189,900.

This Oakland County city borders both Detroit and Warren, and it’s one of the more affordable areas on this list. There are 22 homes listed, with the top price $136,990. Six are priced less than $50,000.

The greater Brighton area includes several townships around the city, which is located near I-96 and US-23. There are 142 homes – including five at $1 million-plus – listed in that broader area, but the number drops off in the city – where some neighborhoods have no listings.

Southwest of Grand Rapids – and west of Kentwood – is this hot housing market, where the average sold price in 2017 is $140,950 on 232 houses sold. There are about 57 homes listed today, with prices from $70,000 to over $300,000 for new construction.

This community is a village in Commerce Township in Oakland County’s lakes area. There are 47 listings in that wider area, which surrounds Wolverine Lake, and about 16 in the village. Prices go over $1 million for lake frontage.

The community along I-96 west of Novi has all of 14 houses on the market. The lowest price right now is $90,000 – “with many updates and more to do,” according to the listing. From there it’s into the mid-$200,000 range, and up to nearly $700,000.

Farmington and Farmington Hills blur together on the multi-list service, which has a total of 138 single family homes in the two communities in southern Oakland County. Drilling down into specifics shows the variety of housing stock, from older homes in the village to wider lots in Farmington Hills.

Detroit has some beautiful homes. It also is home to thousands of fixer-uppers, thanks to its population loss over decades. Those rehab opportunities  – including some on the near east side, around Hamtramck – are helping to fuel significant buyer activity in the city. The area bordered by I-75 and Conner, Mack and McNichols, is one of the hottest areas for fast closings in the state.

This community is in the far southwest corner of Oakland County, with some homes in either Livingston or Washtenaw County mailing addresses. Its building boom continues, with resales keeping pace. South Lyon has 186 houses on the market, from $99,000 to $1.25 million.

The hottest area in the city for listings is on the far east side on the  Harper Woods border. Neighborhoods in it include East English Village, Morningside, Denby and Chandler Park.

This community, near Kalamazoo, has 44 listings. They range from about $75,000 to ten times that amount.

This northern Oakland County community has 41 listings, ranging from just under $100,000 to $600,000. The median sales price is about $160,000.

This is the hottest market in Michigan, according to Realcomp data for March.

What makes it hot?

“It’s what we call the area’s best-kept secret,” said Laurie Bell, a 30-year resident and Realtor with Century 21 Today in Bloomfield Hills.

Today, there are 23 homes listed in the 1.5-square-mile community near Southfield. Many properties have larger lots, and the pricing is averaging about $110 per square foot. That puts most list prices in the $100,000-mid-$200,000 range.

Housing styles range from popular 1960s styles, like tri-levels, to newer colonials. But there also is a historic aspect to the town, which was founded in 1925. As an example, take a look at this  Spanish hacienda-inspired listing for $245,000. It was the first house in Lathrup Village.

Bell said the community saw dramatic price drops during the housing crisis, and it’s still working its way back. That may be part of the sales pace, since buyers are finding value for the home and lot size.

Buyers also are coming from the Royal Oak and Berkley markets, which also have higher prices and low supply. The result, Bell said, is competition for the few listings and “they are selling pretty darned quickly. “