Light inventory levels and high interest rates and inflation are impacting local residential real estate sales, though prices continue to escalate. There were 311 homes sold in the five-county area in August, the lowest total for the month dating back to 2013. The 164 sold in Grand Traverse County was likewise the lowest number in several years, topped by every August since 2015. The lone exception to the trend was in Kalkaska County, where the 33 sales for the month were more than the 29 from August 2021; totals there varied over the past decade from a high of 47 in 2017 to 27 in 2013, with most hovering around the mid-30s.

Prices are a different story. The overall total of $155,250,962 in residential sales volume was topped only by the $162,661,657 of August 2020. Each of the five counties recorded its highest average sales price ever, leading to last month’s average sale price of $499,19, the highest on record. The 25 homes which sold for at least $1,000,000 was also the highest such total.