If you like the current county real estate market — and what’s not to like if you have no intentions of buying a home? — then you should be pleased by the latest sales figures.
They show a remarkably stable yet tight market, with values retaining the steep gains that followed the COVID pandemic.
“I am above what I did last year, but it’s so close,” said Ranae Ihme, broker at Leelanau Vacation Realty (LVR) in Glen Arbor. “It’s right on par. I never thought I could keep up with last year’s numbers.”
“Right on par” describes a lot of real estate categories for Leelanau County, according to statistics made available by the Aspire North Realtors multilisting service.
Median prices are often the most referred to numbers. Over the 44 sales recorded in September, the median price was $570,000. For the first three quarters of 2024, it was $570,000.
And it was $575,000 in 2023 from January through September.
Forty-five homes were sold in September 2023 — one more than last month.
And during the first nine months of 2024, 2023 and 2022 the number of homes sold in Leelanau was 275, 273 and 277.
Steady.
The downside is that a paltry number of homes are on the market in the county — 99, in fact. While Ihme wasn’t sure how many home listings were available during previous years at this time throughout Leelanau, she could provide a snapshot of her home turf in Glen Arbor.
Prior to COVID, it wasn’t unusual to have buyers chose from 60 to 80 listings in the Glen Arbor market, with many of them at The Homestead Resort. As of Tuesday, only seven housing units were actively listed in the Glen Arbor area.
“If they are sitting there, they may be overpriced or fractional units. But even fractionals are selling if they are priced right,” Ihme said.
LVR has also been remarkably stable, the result the close bonds within the Ihme family.
Bob Ihme Senior started Glen Arbor Outdoor in the 1980s based on a close relationship with The Homestead, whose condominium associations were seeking maintenance of their buildings. Bob passed the business to his son “Bobby” in 1995, when Ranae was cleaning condos and cottages with Bob’s widow, Linda. The three of them started a rental company known as Leelanau Vacation Rentals; in 1999, Bob Jr. and Ranae were married.
A real estate business was added to the rental and maintenance offerings in the late 1990s. Linda retired in 2012, leaving Bobby and Ranae in charge. Leelanau Vacation Rentals was sold to a national firm in 2022.
Experiences gained through those many years of helping people in the Glen Arbor market have put LVR in a position to help clients through more than the sale or purchase of property.
“When you have a question, we can answer it. That’s where we’re unique, and we don’t go away after a contract is signed. When you buy we can help you get ride of the old stuff and help you take care of your new yard,” Ranae said.
The Ihmes are hoping that their son, Robert Neal Ihme III, will return as part of the business after he graduates from Hope College.
In the meantime, Ranae is searching for listings.
“The truth is our inventory is dwindling. I would love to get a listing, and I could sell it right away … the truth is I love to sell. I love to sell in Glen Arbor,” she said.
The latest sale by the LVR team encompassed what is commonly referred to as the “Centennial Barn” at the intersection of M-22 and Bohemian Road within the boundaries of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. It’s known for a painted graphic on the barn commemorating the year 1976, our nation’s bicentennial. The painting has been maintained through the years.
A stripped-down farmhouse, which was undergoing renovation when placed on the market, the barn and four acres were listed for $599,000, which was also the sales price.
“That was a harder sale because it wasn’t finished and had been stripped down to the studs. It was going to cost $400,000 to finish it. It was pretty cool, but it did have some deed restrictions such as it couldn’t be rented. I think people are saying, ‘If I want to be (in Leelanau County), I’ll have to make it work,’” Ihme said.
