When Kate Brouner decided to put her six-bedroom, three-bath 3,590-square-foot Howell house on the market, she called the previous owner: Novi-based Realtor Jenn Anderson.

Anderson lived in the home for 11 years before selling to Brouner.

“We call it ‘our house’ and we wanted to make sure to find the right buyer,” Anderson said.

Winter tends to be a slower time for agents but it allows real-estate agents to size up last year’s marketplace and forecast the year ahead. But houses are still being bought and sold.

Steve Stockton has a national and local perspective of the housing market. He’s a board member for RealComp, Michigan’s largest multiple-listing service; the North Oakland County Board of Realtors; and the National Real Estate Review Board.

“This is the longest time period we’ve had growth: 29 months in a row of increased value nationally,” he said. “I don’t remember a month since COVID where we haven’t gone up month over month.”

Regionally, sales rose month-over-month in the Northeast and South, were unchanged in the West, and declined in the Midwest. Demand in Michigan remains steady, Stockton said.

Nationally, home sales rose in December, up by a half percent from November, according to the National Association of Realtors. But compared to December 2024, sales were down by 1%.

The typical homebuyer is 60 years old and the median age for a new-home buyer is at an all-time high: 40, up from 33 in 2021 and 29 in 1991.

“The hardest issue is finding starter homes that younger people can buy. To finally hit 40 as the average first-time buyer’s age is just crazy,” he said.

Market shift

Stockton said the current market is transitioning from one that favored sellers to a balanced market favoring neither buyers nor sellers, aided in part by lower interest rates.

As of late Thursday, a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage loan was around 6.2% and the 15-year rate was around 5.6%. Few expect interest to drop below 6% this year, despite pressure on the Federal Bank by the Trump administration, he said.

Karen Kage, Realcomp’s CEO and a real estate agent for more than 40 years, said buyers are finding 10% more homes for sale in southeast Michigan this year compared to last year while Oakland County has 15% more.

Oakland County’s hottest markets include Novi, Northville and South Lyon, where builders are busy. Existing homes are selling in Milford, Highland and White Lake townships, Stockton said.

Areas like Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills remain popular and lakeside homes are always in high demand.

Home prices

Southeast Michigan’s median price for existing homes was $270,000 in December, up 5.9% over December 2024. Oakland County’s median home price increased by less than 1%, to $360,000..

“The buyers have a little more to chase,” Stockton said, noting that less than five years ago, buyers were skipping home inspections and warranties to compete with a slew of other buyers.

These days, he said, softer markets in Nevada, Arizona, Idaho and Florida are inspiring older homeowners who are weighing getting a good price for their Michigan home and taking advantage of better prices in what Stockon called “the sunshine states.”

In southeast Michigan, the number of homes on the market represent about three to four months of inventory, up from 2015, when the inventory was a scant six weeks. A truly balanced market requires a five-to-seven-month supply of homes, Stockton said.

More homes for sale means sellers are now waiting on home inspection results, offering home warranties again and bargaining on prices more than in recent years.

But in some areas, buyers are writing love letters about the home they want to persuade a seller to pick their offer.

What’s selling

A refreshed kitchen remains a selling point, as does a newer roof.

“The homes selling quickly now are updated and sharp,” Stockton said. “If you have a house that’s a little tired and dated, it’s going to sit on the market for a while.”

But a motivated seller like Brouner will adjust the home price to attract buyers.

Brouner, a healthcare analyst and mother of five, wanted a new home after her divorce was finalized but didn’t have the time for significant updates.

Anderson said it’s important for sellers to be realistic about their home’s value and the marketplace. Brouner had been watching the real estate market for 18 months before deciding to list her home. She and Anderson agreed to list the house for $449,900.

Less than a week after the listing went online, offers poured in.

“I was pretty confident my house would sell but Jenn really helped me make the most money possible,” she said. “Selling is not as scary as everyone thinks. Find the right agent and they will guide you.”

Brouner will start shopping for a new home with Anderson soon. She hopes to find a house with more land, room for her family and a price under $400,000 and she’s being pragmatic about her options.

“I don’t mind buying a fixer upper,” she said.

The 2026 outlook

“I hate making predictions,” Kage said. “Everything could change tomorrow … Who could have predicted some of the things we’ve been through in the last 40 years?”

She prefers to watch monthly home-sales figures and said two months of numbers gives a short-term peek into the future. The final months of winter can suggest how a season will progress. The second-quarter market is a better indicator, she said.

The solid sellers’ market pressed buyers into bidding wars, which Kage said raised prices to a point that challenges younger buyers.

She believes more sellers are confident of getting a good price for their home and being able to find an affordable next home,” she said.

A rise in the number of homes available has increased the average time on the market by two days, to 43 days, which has alarmed sellers and it shouldn’t because buyers who have more choices are more confident in their offers, Kage said.

Kage encourages buyers and sellers to work with a licensed real estate agent. They can help sellers find the optimum price for marketing a home and typically learn about new listings before they are published.

“People say, ‘Oh, I’ll just check Zillow’ but where do you think Zillow gets the information? They get it from us,” she said.

By Rachel SiegelThe Washington Post

President Donald Trump over the weekend floated an idea that took real estate agents, mortgage brokers and housing experts by surprise: the 50-year mortgage.

On Saturday, Trump posted an image on Truth Social titled “Great American Presidents.” It included a photo of President Franklin D. Roosevelt under the words “30-year mortgage” and a photo of Trump beneath the words “50-year mortgage.” (Mortgages were extended to 30 years in the 1940s as part of Roosevelt’s push to make home buying more affordable.)

Housing economists say the longer time frame could save buyers a couple hundred dollars a month, depending on the size of the mortgage and other details. But it would be costlier in other ways, including with more interest paid over a longer period of time. Implementing such a policy would also require tedious changes from regulators, plus buy-in from lenders and the broader housing finance industry.

So far, there’s little sense of how popular a 50-year mortgage would be. Here’s what we know so far.

– – –

What has the Trump administration said?

After Trump’s Truth Social post on Saturday, Bill Pulte, the administration’s top housing finance official, posted on X that “we are indeed working on The 50 year Mortgage – a complete game changer.” Pulte is the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency who also made himself chair of mortgage behemoths Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, companies that have been under government control since the 2008 housing crisis. Fannie and Freddie are essential to the smooth functioning of the U.S. mortgage market and together guarantee about half of existing home loans.

In a statement, a White House official who declined to be named said Trump “is always exploring new ways to improve housing affordability for everyday Americans. Any official policy changes will be announced by the White House.”

An FHFA spokesperson who also declined to be named said, “We are studying, and have not finalized, a wide variety of options related to multi year loans, including the ability to make mortgages transferable or portable. If banks can sell someone’s mortgage, we should at least explore if there are opportunities for regular Americans to have flexibility.”

One person close to the White House said the announcement came after Democrats swept in last week’s elections, in part on pledges to boost affordability for housing and more. But that person, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly, said Trump’s social media post had no substantial policy behind it yet.

– – –

Would 50-year mortgages save buyers money?

With a longer timeline, home buyers have much more time to pay back a loan. And they would have lower monthly payments along the way. For example, let’s assume a home sells for $400,000. A buyer puts up 10 percent – or $40,000 – for a down payment. The buyer gets a 6.25 percent interest rate, slightly above last week’s 30-year fixed rate average of 6.22 percent.

That buyer would owe about $2,300 each month on a 30-year mortgage. On a 50-year loan, they would owe about $2,000. They might pay more than that, though – that math assumes a buyer gets the same rate for both mortgages, which is unlikely, since shorter loans typically have lower rates. So rates on 50-year loans could be higher than on 30-year ones.

A lower monthly payment could be beneficial for new buyers looking to get a foothold in the market. But it might also work against them if they are only planning on living in the house for a few years, or if they don’t know how their needs will shake out across decades.

– – –

What about potential drawbacks?

Buyers’ monthly payments may be lower, but they’ll end up paying much more interest over two more decades. With a 50-year loan, total interest on that $400,000 home would amount to $816,396, compared with $438,156 on a 30-year loan. That’s 86 percent more interest over the life of the loans, said Joel Berner, senior economist at Realtor.com.

And it will take much longer for owners to build equity. Ten years into paying off a 30-year mortgage on that $400,000 home, an owner would have a 24 percent stake in a house, setting aside rising home values. With a 50-year mortgage, that would be 14 percent.

Berner said addressing the nation’s affordability problems will take lots of ideas, including how to generate more construction so there are enough homes to meet Americans’ needs. But a new mortgage offering could juice demand before supply can catch up – which would push prices even higher.

“This is a creative way to solve this problem,” Berner said, “but I don’t think it addresses the fundamental issues that we have.”

– – –

What would it take to offer a 50-year mortgage?

Establishing a new kind of mortgage could be possible, albeit complex, wrote Jaret Seiberg, managing director at TD Cowen, in a Monday analyst note. The Dodd-Frank Act – the landmark legislation that reformed the financial system after the 2008 financial crisis – says mortgages that exceed 30 years do not meet the definition of a qualified mortgage, which also means Fannie and Freddie can’t buy them.

But regulators have the ability to alter those qualifications to keep mortgages affordable. All told, the process could take at least a year to implement, Seiberg wrote, and it’s unlikely that lenders would originate 50-year mortgages without clear policy changes first.

Without changing the qualifications, the new loans could be hard to find – and more expensive. Lenders may be less willing to offer 50-year mortgages if they know Fannie and Freddie can’t buy them, a spokesperson for the Mortgage Bankers Association said in a statement. Limited interest from investors could also push interest rates up.

– – –

What’s next?

Any details from the White House or FHFA would be needed for the market to prepare for such a change. Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, said that for now, the administration’s posts appear to be more about messaging than substantial policy. But, Brusuelas said, younger generations “may look at this differently.”

“If they think they’re saving $300 or $400 a month, then that’s a big deal,” he said. “That covers the car payment, maybe.”