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Market Intelligence
Real signals from West Michigan real estate. What the data says and what it means for your next move.
West Michigan by the County
Active inventory, new listings, pending and sold counts, average days on market, and average sold price across every county in the region. Pulled weekly from the MLS, no spin, no hype.
| County | Active | New | Pending | Sold | Avg DOM | Avg Sold Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kent | 910 | 214 | 192 | 115 | 24 | $480,566 |
| Ottawa | 569 | 105 | 70 | 61 | 25 | $510,263 |
| Kalamazoo | 526 | 98 | 89 | 58 | 24 | $350,035 |
| Muskegon | 417 | 65 | 53 | 34 | 42 | $258,772 |
| Allegan | 233 | 37 | 36 | 17 | 19 | $461,885 |
| Barry | 84 | 22 | 14 | 10 | 27 | $340,130 |
| Montcalm | 122 | 24 | 15 | 8 | 25 | $573,788 |
| Oceana | 157 | 18 | 5 | 7 | 30 | $371,000 |
| Mason | 134 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 37 | $333,571 |
| Newaygo | 132 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 75 | $338,500 |
| Manistee | 124 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 21 | $363,480 |
| Mecosta | 138 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 26 | $342,380 |
| Lake | 106 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 35 | $132,478 |
| Ionia | 80 | 15 | 16 | 1 | 12 | $325,000 |
| Osceola | 63 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 194 | $374,900 |
Market Intelligence
People assume Muskegon County isn't an appreciating market. It is. Here's an honest, opportunity-focused read on what's happening right now.
Demand is strong for homes priced under 300 thousand that are well-presented and priced right, and those are drawing multiple offers. Buyers have more room to think than they did a couple years back, and that's not a bad thing. Your first home doesn't have to be your forever home, so use the room you have. Sellers who price honestly and prep well in that first week or two are still getting strong outcomes. The ones who get hurt are working off assumptions that stopped being true a while ago.
What I Watch Closely
More room to think and negotiate than there was 18 months ago. Higher rates mean the payment math matters more, so run the numbers before you run toward a property. The best-priced homes in strong school districts are still moving, so a clear strategy beats trying to time the market.
Buyer guidance →Homes are still selling when they're priced right and show well. But it's not automatic anymore. Preparation and pricing accuracy are everything, and you need a plan built around where the market actually is, not where it was two years ago.
Seller guidance →Free Guides
Plain-language guides that walk you through each phase of your move, no agenda except helping you make the smarter decision. All free.
A step-by-step roadmap from your first conversation to closing day. Financing, search strategy, offers, and inspections, laid out clearly.
Read the buyer's guide →The process from your first conversation to closing, pricing strategy, prep, marketing, and negotiation. No surprises along the way.
Read the seller's guide →What to expect, what it actually costs, how to compete, and how to skip the mistakes that derail most first purchases.
Read the first-time buyer guide →How to evaluate rentals the right way: cap rate, cash flow, financing structure, and what the numbers need to look like for a deal to actually make sense.
Read the investor's guide →What you need to know about moving to West Michigan: communities, schools, market dynamics, and how to buy from out of area with confidence.
Read the relocation guide →Support for homeowners facing a hard situation: foreclosure, divorce, financial hardship, or an estate. Your options, your rights, your timeline, straight talk throughout.
Read the Home Protectors guide →First-Time Buyers
Buying your first home starts with a real read on where you stand. Work through it yourself, talk it out one on one, or come to a free live class. No pressure, no cost.
A self-paced workbook with the questions, budgeting, and planning that show you exactly where you stand on the path to your first home.
Open the workbook →A quick 10 to 15 minute call with a Legacy advisor. No pitch, just an honest look at where you stand and what comes next.
Book a readiness call →A free, live class with Legacy and VanDyk Mortgage. Learn the real numbers, the loan programs, and the path to your first home.
Register for the class →Market & Timing Questions
It comes down to your specific situation: your timeline, your finances, and what you're actually trying to accomplish. Market timing is real, but it's rarely the deciding factor. The better question is whether your situation is ready to move, and that's what we figure out in the first conversation.
Genuinely mixed, and that's the honest answer. Certain price points and school districts still favor sellers, with well-presented homes drawing multiple offers. Other ranges sit closer to neutral, where buyers have real room to think. There's no single label for the whole region, which is exactly why local strategy beats a national headline.
Trying to time the rate is a hard game to win, since nobody knows where rates are headed and life rarely waits for the perfect chart. What matters more is whether the payment works for your budget and whether your situation is ready. If the numbers work now, waiting on a rate you can't predict can cost more than it saves. We run the real math first, then decide.
Days on market, how often homes come back after going under contract, how frequently sellers cut price, and the balance between active inventory and real demand. No single number tells you much on its own. The real signal is in how they move together, and it reads differently across price points and communities.
Because real estate doesn't work as a country, it works block by block. National headlines average together markets that have nothing to do with each other, so they rarely describe what's happening on your street. West Michigan is its own set of micro-markets, and one county can behave very differently from the next.
The read here gets refreshed as conditions actually change, not on a rigid calendar, because the point is reflecting reality, not filling a schedule. If you want a current take on your specific situation or neighborhood, the fastest path is to start a conversation and ask me directly.
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“Bring me your situation. I'll bring the strategy. Let's build something that actually moves you forward.”