If you liked 2018, the sequel looks to be even better. Real estate sales will continue to be strong for the rest of this year, according to those in the know. “We’re seeing good activity,” says Michael Cnudde, broker with Coldwell Banker A.L.M. of Manistee. “People are looking — both homeowners looking to upgrade and [those looking for] second homes.”

As Ross Boissoneau writes in this week's Northern Express, sister publication of The Ticker, this year’s first-quarter sales seem to be taking up where 2017 left off. While last year’s unit totals were down compared to 2017, the figures for 2019 seem to mirror those of two years ago, or even further back. “This year is…almost like 2016, our best year ever,” says Mark Hagan of Coldwell Banker Schmidt Realtors in Traverse City. “At this point in 2016, we did $15 million in sales. In 2017 it was $11 million, and in 2018 it was $8.5 million. This year it’s up to almost $15 million.”

So what is selling? Almost everything. That includes vacant land and commercial properties. This year’s 232 sales of vacant land in the five-county area served by the Traverse Area Association of Realtors (Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Kalkaska, Benzie and Antrim) is the highest number in the last six years by a wide margin. Commercial, too, is robust. The strength of the economy is one contributing factor, but another is something altogether new: the legalization of marijuana. Those looking to cash in on the market — and there are many — are leasing or purchasing buildings across the region. On the residential side, strong sales are driving inventories down, according to realtors.

Read more about the local real estate market in this week's Northern Express, available to read online or at one of nearly 700 spots in 14 counties across northern Michigan.