Sales of residential real estate remained relatively steady compared with this month last year, despite rising interest rates and a tight inventory. The 222 sales across the five-county region compared favorably with the 216 from last May, with Grand Traverse County boasting 134 home sales versus 121 last year. The total dollar volume of $62,664,791 produced an average price of $467,647. Last year’s May sales were $56,946,405, with an average price of $470,631. The five-county total of $104,949,816 and average sale price of $472,746 bettered those of 2022, $97,552,655 and $451,632, respectively.

Apart from the pandemic-impacted sales of May 2020, prices have continued to escalate while the volume of sales has been flat or down. You have to go back to 2011 to find a total number of sales lower than the last two years, excepting 2020. At the same time, the average of 69 days a home was on the market was the highest of the last three years, but still less than that of all preceding May figures.