Monthly statistics from the five-county area show sales of real estate are slowing, down from the past two years in units sold, but continuing to increase in monetary volume. In Grand Traverse County, 140 homes were sold in both May 2018 and May 2017, down from 173 in 2016 and 159 in 2015. Both total sales volume and average sales price for Grand Traverse demonstrate that 2016 was the high-water mark, at $48,037,954 compared with this year’s $38,202,208; for 2017 it was roughly $1 million less than this year and 2015 was $2 million less than this year.
 
Total sales for the five-county region point in the same direction. May’s 276 units and $73,032,357 are both ahead of last year but do not measure up to May 2016, with 303 sales and $77,780,532. However, this year’s overall average price of $264,609 outstrips the $256,701 from May 2016, and the average number of days a property is on the market also demonstrate that sales continue to be strong. In May 2016, homes were on the market for an average 148 days in the region and 125 days in Grand Traverse County; last month those same figures had dropped to 116 days region-wide and only 76 days in Grand Traverse County. Those statistics indicate the market remains good.
 
That’s especially apparent compared to 2011, when the region was just emerging from the recession. Total sales in May 2011 were 167, with 89 in Grand Traverse County, with an average price of $185,443 overall, only $170,564 countywide. Days on market is even more telling: 182 for Grand Traverse County in 2011, and 211 overall. For Antrim County, the days on market in 2011 was a whopping 308 days; this year it is down to 133.