Condo Values Are Stalling Nationally. Washtenaw County Typical Homes Are Sitting at $433K.

Condos Are Soft Everywhere Now

HousingWire and Inman are both flagging the same thing: condo prices are stalling across the country, and it is not a Florida-only story anymore. Condos are sitting longer before selling than they did pre-pandemic, and the trend is spreading into markets that looked insulated. If you own a condo in Washtenaw or Oakland County and you have been holding out for a spring bump, this is worth paying attention to. Buyer demand for attached housing has cooled, and the reasons are a mix of rising HOA fees, insurance costs, and buyers who can still qualify for a single-family home choosing that instead.

Where Single-Family Values Stand in SE Michigan

Zooming out to single-family homes, the county-level picture shows a real spread across Southeast Michigan. Washtenaw County sits at a typical home value of $433,466 according to the Zillow Home Value Index. Livingston County is close behind at $412,643. Oakland County comes in at $383,632. Wayne County is at $171,354, which reflects the wide variation within the county rather than a single market story. These are typical home values, not median sale prices, so they smooth out some of the week-to-week noise, but the gap between Washtenaw and Wayne is about $262,000. That gap matters for buyers who have flexibility on where they land.

Rates Moved Up Again This Week

Freddie Mac's weekly survey put the 30-year fixed at 7.4% as of this week, up from 7.28% the week before. That is not a massive jump, but it compounds. On a $400,000 loan, the difference between 7.28% and 7.4% is roughly $30 more per month. Small in isolation, meaningful over 30 years, and it adds to the affordability pressure that has been grinding on buyers all year. Lenders also pulled back slightly on credit availability in September, particularly on cash-out refinance products and investor purchases, so the financing environment is getting a little tighter at the edges.

What This Means for Your Next Move

If you are selling a condo, price it correctly from day one. The days of pricing high and waiting for an offer are over in that segment right now. Overpriced condos are sitting, and sitting inventory gets stigmatized fast. If you are buying a single-family home and you have been looking across county lines, the value differences between Washtenaw, Livingston, and Oakland are real and worth running the actual numbers on rather than anchoring to one market. And if you are rate-watching and waiting for a significant drop before moving, just know that 7.4% may not be the ceiling, and waiting has its own cost when inventory in your price range is limited.