Selective Buyers Shape the Market
The Southeast Michigan market continues to follow the same pattern from earlier this year—buyer demand remains solid, but inventory is slowly rebuilding as listings that don’t sell immediately are staying on the market longer than in previous years. Showings across Michigan are running ahead of the past three years, including a sharp increase in activity over $750k, yet sales remain slightly below last year due to limited move-in-ready inventory and affordability pressure.
At the same time, buyers remain highly selective. The best listings attract immediate attention and strong offers, while average or overpriced homes are sitting longer and requiring price reductions. In April, 58% of Southeast Michigan closed sales sold at or above asking price, and nearly half of all new pendings accepted an offer within 10 days. However, average days on market for unsold active listings has climbed to 95 days, highlighting the widening gap between desirable listings and homes that miss on pricing, condition, or presentation.
April activity reflected the normal spring surge. New listings jumped 21% from March and new pendings rose 36% month-over-month. While new listings remain slightly below last year’s pace, pending sales are now running ahead of 2025 levels, especially in the upper-end market where YTD pendings over $400k are up 6%. Inventory is also up 12% from a year ago, largely because homes are taking longer to sell than they did during the frenzy of the past few years.
Looking ahead, the next two months should bring the strongest combination of new listings, buyer activity, and closed sales of the year. Well-prepared homes in desirable locations should continue to sell quickly with competitive offers, particularly in popular price ranges. Buyers should see more choices as inventory grows through summer, but attractive listings will still move fast. Sellers should pay close attention to early market response. In today’s market, the first two weeks remain the clearest indicator of whether pricing and presentation align with buyer expectations.