Market Intelligence
The Real Read on
West Michigan Real Estate
Fifteen counties, every week and every month, closing by closing. No national headlines, no hype, just what the data actually says about your market.
Coming Off the Summer Peak, Not Coming Apart
Across our fifteen-county footprint, September was the month the cost of money moved and the price of houses did not. Mortgage rates climbed past 7 percent, the average sold price held within about a thousand dollars of August, homes took about four days longer to sell, and buyers had more to choose from than in any month of 2026. That is a market at its autumn pace, not a market in trouble.
The average home across our fifteen counties sold for $390,870 in September, within about $1,000 of August's $391,820 and about 3.5 percent above a year ago, and homes took 30.3 days to sell against 26.2 in August, the second month in a row the clock ran longer and right where last September sat at 30.2. Active listings rose to 4,859, up about 5 percent on the month, the most of the year and the sixth straight monthly increase.
Supply sits at about 2.45 months across the footprint, still a seller's market overall, though our rural counties crossed into balanced territory for the first time this year. We first counted September on October 6 and found 1,910 homes closed. Counted again on October 26, nearly four weeks after the month ended, it stood at 1,985.
Measured at that same point after month end, September 2025 counted 2,046, so September 2026 came in about 3 percent below last year, the first like-for-like year-over-year decline we have published. It is small, and it arrived in the month rates jumped. We compare the two Septembers at the same number of days after the month closed on purpose, because a count keeps rising for weeks as late closings are recorded, and setting it beside a finished figure would show a decline bigger than the real one.
The 30-year fixed went from 6.66 percent at the end of August to 7.03 on the September 24 survey, after the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark a quarter point on September 16, its first increase since 2023, and the October 22 survey put it at 7.32. On a $300,000 home with 20 percent down, that is about $60 a month more in principal and interest than a month earlier and $116 more than a year ago.
Prices held through it. We are not publishing a month-over-month contract figure this time, because the pending count shrinks as contracts close, and a six-day September count beside a one-day August count would overstate the drop. Our weekly reads tracked contracts at a fixed hour all month, and they held between 389 and 455 a week, a steady autumn level.
How We Read the Market
Real Estate Does Not Work as a Country. It Works Block by Block.
West Michigan is not one market. It is five or six distinct ones, from an affordability floor to a lakeshore premium. A single service-area average is almost always the wrong number to quote. Here is what we actually track, and why.
Speed and Fall-Through
Days on market, and how often homes come back after going under contract, tell us whether demand is real or wishful. Speed varies block to block: some submarkets turn in about nine days while others run past sixty.
Price by Submarket
We anchor pricing to recent solds for the specific home, never to active-list optimism or a county headline. A handful of luxury sales can lift a whole county average without changing the market underneath it.
Inventory Against Demand
Active listings measured against what is actually going under contract is the balance that shifts everything. Right now the footprint is well-supplied, which is what keeps an accurately priced home moving.
Rates and Behavior
Not just the rate, but how buyers respond to it. We frame rates as year-over-year payment math, because that is honest and useful, and we never predict where they go next.
The Mix, Read Correctly
When an average moves, we check whether values changed or the mix of what sold changed. A month of more mid-priced closings can pull an average down while demand is actually rising. That is a mix story, not a cooling one.
Distress, In Context
We track foreclosure activity across all fifteen counties. The honest answer is almost always that yes, some exists, and no, it is not a wave. Most statewide distress sits in metro Detroit, not our footprint.
The Fifteen-County Footprint
This is the real spread of the market we serve, from Lake County's affordability floor to Ottawa's lakeshore premium. Sold, price and days on market are September's closed residential activity as counted October 26, nearly four weeks after the month ended. Active is the current listing count, so you can see what closed against what is still on the market. Ask us for the read on your specific city.
| County | Homes Sold | Active Now | Avg Sold Price | Avg Days on Market |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kent | 630 | 1,327 | $441,132 | 24 |
| Ottawa | 313 | 719 | $484,342 | 32 |
| Kalamazoo | 270 | 665 | $342,503 | 26 |
| Muskegon | 205 | 534 | $309,351 | 33 |
| Allegan | 126 | 273 | $437,236 | 29 |
| Barry | 67 | 106 | $366,272 | 25 |
| Montcalm | 62 | 168 | $309,878 | 20 |
| Newaygo | 55 | 182 | $281,609 | 43 |
| Mason | 48 | 137 | $331,335 | 40 |
| Ionia | 45 | 81 | $263,517 | 36 |
| Oceana | 43 | 149 | $382,326 | 67 |
| Mecosta | 38 | 182 | $299,579 | 51 |
| Manistee | 32 | 135 | $311,634 | 53 |
| Lake | 29 | 129 | $204,531 | 42 |
| Osceola | 22 | 72 | $211,366 | 68 |
Kent County
Grand Rapids alone closed 258 homes in September at a 25-day pace, with Kentwood turning homes in about 9 days and Wyoming in about 14. Kent also added more listings than any county, 1,327 active against 1,165 in August, so day-one pricing matters more than it did in June. Come pre-approved and price to recent solds, and you transact.
Ottawa County
Ottawa led the footprint on price at a $484,342 average. Holland closed 85 at 29 days, Jenison turned homes in about 11, and Spring Lake averaged near $552,000 at a slower 50 days after Labor Day. Grand Haven is the lakeshore market to watch, at 35 days and about four months of supply.
Muskegon County
Muskegon is the affordability anchor of the region. The county average sat at $309,351 on the mix of small-town sales, while the city closed 120 homes near $291,000 in about 32 days, up 17.4 percent on a year ago and the biggest price gain of any real market in our footprint. The market here is functional across the price band. A fresh-comp conversation and a realistic timeline are the right starting points.
The table above is this month. For the longer view, we publish every closed sale in the fifteen counties for the last three full years, by county and by property type, at home sales by county, 2023 to 2025.
What We Are Watching
The Signals That Will Shape the Next Few Months
Reading the market is not just describing today. It is watching the handful of things that tell us where it goes next. Here is where our attention is right now.
Contracts Holding Steady
Contracts are the number recording lag does not distort, as long as they are counted at a fixed hour. Our weekly reads did that all September, and contracts held between 389 and 455 a week, a steady autumn level, while new listings eased to 2,428. Volume is stepping down from the June peak the way it does every fall, and prices held through it.
Rates Moved, Prices Did Not
The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark a quarter point on September 16, its first increase since 2023, and the 30-year fixed went from 6.66 to 7.03 percent during the month and 7.28 on October 1. Mortgages follow the 10-year Treasury and the spread over it, so no single Fed decision sets your rate. The Fed meets next on October 27 and 28. We are not predicting. We show payment math and watch how buyers respond.
Supply Meeting Demand
With 4,859 homes available after six straight monthly increases, the most of the year, buyers have real choice for the first time since spring. Supply is still about 2.35 months across the footprint, a seller's market overall, while our rural counties crossed into balanced territory for the first time this year. We will say so plainly when the balance moves.
Foreclosure Staying Low
Foreclosure notices came in at 124 across our fifteen counties in September, up from August's record low of 102 and about 7 percent below last September, an ordinary month, and the national distress narrative describes metro Detroit, not here. We watch it every month so that if the picture ever changes, you hear it from us first, in context.
The Legacy Brief
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The data tells you what the market is doing. These tell you how to move through it.
The West Michigan Buyer's Roadmap
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Read the guide →What It Takes to Sell Well Now
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What sold, what is being permitted, and the public record on 358 cities and townships across all fifteen counties, each with its own profile and map.
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Fluoride, Pop-Tarts, baby food and the first pedestrian mall all started within an hour of here. Sourced facts on all fifteen counties, plus the popular claims that turn out to be wrong.
Browse the facts →Data Is the Start, Not the Answer
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