In this edition, Rick shares year-end stats for the Lowell area.
Year End 2021 Statistics
Average Sale Prices – Year-To-Date Through December 2021
| School District | Average Sale Price / Increase |
| Forest Hills | $503,893 +12.4% |
| Caledonia | $393,991 +15.5% |
| Rockford | $389,329 +18.8% |
| Lowell | $348,377 +16.7% |
| Entire MLS | $268,982 +12.4% |
| Saranac | $254,552 +13.0% |
| Belding | $212,680 +21.1% |
| Lakewood | $203,636 +16.3% |
*MLS is Multiple Listing Service. Coverage area includes all of Kent and Ionia Counties, northern Barry County (inclusive of Gun Lake) and southeastern Ottawa County. Statistics courtesy of GRAR (Greater Regional Alliance of Realtors).
Here are the final Average Sale Prices for 2021, along with each school district increase over the past 12 months. The Entire Multiple Listing Service (MLS) Average Sale Price increased 12.4% in 2021. All our focus area school districts matched or exceeded that increase. The Lowell School District increased 16.7%. In terms of pricing, the Average Sale Price in the Lowell School District increased $58,179 from $290,198 to $348,377. That equates to the Average Sale Price increasing an average of nearly $5,000 per month. 2022 will see rising interest rates, which may affect affordability and overall demand within the entire MLS. However, our focus area school districts will remain popular locations for buyers for various reasons. 2022 looks relatively identical to 2021, but maybe a bit less frenzied.
Average Sale Prices by Township – As of December 31, 2021
| Location/School District | Average Sale Price |
| Ada Township | $552,869 |
| Cascade Township | $512,019 |
| Vergennes Township | $411,676 |
| Grattan Township | $343,468 |
| Lowell Township | $334,148 |
| Bowne Township | $333,050 |
| Boston Township | $280,643 |
| Entire MLS | $267,037 |
| Keene Township | $244,167 |
Statistics courtesy of GRAR (Greater Regional Alliance of Realtors)
Here are the final Average Sale Prices for 2021 for each of our surrounding townships. The Lowell School District takes up a portion of each of these townships, except Vergennes and Lowell Townships, where the entire townships are encompassed by the Lowell School District. The highest increasing Average Sale Price in our above surrounding townships was Vergennes Township with an increase of 24.6%. The next highest increase was Cascade Township with 17.5% increase.
Market Inventory – As of December 31, 2021
| Location
School District |
Homes Currently
for Sale |
Months
of Supply |
New Listings
Dec 2020 vs Dec 2021 |
| Entire MLS – GRAR* | 3,849 | 1.2 | 2,232 1,893 |
| Rockford | 58 | .8 | 46 37 |
| Forest Hills | 51 | .7 | 41 34 |
| Caledonia | 37 | 1.0 | 24 25 |
| Lowell | 25 | 1.0 | 11 18 |
| Belding | 12 | .8 | 10 8 |
| Lakewood | 7 | .6 | 6 7 |
| Saranac | 7 | 1.1 | 2 12 |
*MLS is Multiple Listing Service. Coverage area includes all of Kent and Ionia Counties, northern Barry County (inclusive of Gun Lake) and southeastern Ottawa County. Statistics courtesy of GRAR (Greater Regional Alliance of Realtors).
“Months of Supply” refers to the number of months it would take for the current inventory of homes on the market to sell given the current sales pace. Historically, six months of supply is associated with moderate price appreciation, and a lower level of month’s supply tends to push prices up more rapidly.
The shrinking inventory of homes for sale continues to cause a lack of choices for buyers. Months of Supply in our focus areas continue to be less than the entire MLS.
As we enter 2022, the lack of inventory continues to be problematic, causing a faster pace of Average Sale price increases. The seasonality of our winter months certainly affects inventory. However, New Listings comparing December 2020 and December 2021 show that there continues to be a decline of availability of buyer choices.
Average Price Per Square Foot – As of December 31, 2021
| Location/School District | Average Price Per Sq. Ft. |
| Forest Hills | $170 |
| Rockford | $167 |
| Caledonia | $160 |
| Lowell | $157 |
| Entire MLS | $141 |
| Saranac | $132 |
| Belding | $130 |
| Lakewood | $126 |
Statistics courtesy of GRAR (Greater Regional Alliance of Realtors)
The Average Price Per Square Foot means the price per square foot in relation to the Sale Price. These averages continue to increase in our focus area school districts. These numbers are also an indication of supply and demand. Average new home construction costs begin around $200+ per sq. ft. in West Michigan, but that does not necessarily include landscaping; the cost of the land or lot to build the new home; or the cost of improvements to the land, such as water/sewer hook-up, well, septic, driveway, electric, and gas. The above averages include existing homes and some new construction. The Lowell School District increase from November to December was $2 per square foot and the Entire MLS increase was $1 per square foot.
Pending Sales – As of December 31, 2021
| Location
School District |
Pending Sales
Dec 2020 vs Dec 2021 |
| Entire MLS | 2,280 1,954 |
| Forest Hills | 50 40 |
| Rockford | 38 43 |
| Caledonia | 19 28 |
| Lowell | 12 21 |
| Belding | 10 7 |
| Lakewood | 7 7 |
| Saranac | 5 6 |
Statistics courtesy of GRAR (Greater Regional Alliance of Realtors)
Pending Sales are sales under contract with an accepted offer, but those transactions have not finalized yet (closed). Some of the above numbers could change daily, as some sales will terminate for various reasons, but new sales will be added. Winter seasonality and holidays usually causes less Pending Sales in December. Therefore, a fair comparison is same month 2020 vs 2021. Pending Sales decreased within the Entire MLS when comparing December 2020 and December 2021. However, the Lowell School District had a sizable increase in Pending Sales when comparing the same months. These numbers are important as a tool to forecast future closings and indicate recent activity. The above numbers are based on the one-month activity of reported Pending Sales. Most pending sales become finalized and closed within a three-to-six-week period, from the date it became pending.
Rick Seese works with buyers and sellers of residential, commercial, and industrial real estate. He is an Associate Broker with Greenridge Realty, Inc. and has been licensed full-time for over 40 years. If you’re interested in reaching out to Rick for more information, or have a question for the monthly article, you can contact him via email ([email protected]), visit his website at www.rickseese.com or Facebook page at (www.facebook.com/Rick Seese), or call/text him at 616-437-2576.
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