Statistics from the Traverse Area Association of Realtors show that home sales are on the rise compared with a year ago. In the five-county area, there were 240 sales in April 2018 and 220 a year ago. Those figures are both down from the high water mark of 2016, when a total of 254 homes were sold, and 2015 with 247 units sold. The year still wins out overall in dollar volume, with sales of $69,966,020. That compares with $55,288,576 in April 2017; both 2016 and 2015 figures were larger than that, but still more than $10 million below this year.
 
Among the individual counties, Grand Traverse boasted 135 home sales this April, up from 121 a year ago; 149 homes were sold in 2015, but at a volume of $35,275,477, compared with this April’s dollar volume of $39,980,710. Leelanau sales also topped last year, with 37 units vs. 31 and a whopping $16,737,610 compared to $9,509,650 in 2017. Figures for Benzie were down slightly, Antrim was up in units but roughly even in volume, and both were down in Kalkaska County. Median prices are up, especially in Leelanau, from $253,500 in April 2017 to $365,000 this year; overall the median is $232,000 vs. $203,237 last year.
 
All the current figures represent significant changes over the market six years ago, when the dollar volume was $36,094,774, $33 million less than this year. Median price was $144,500 in 2012 and days on market is down from 219 in 2012 to 136 this year.