How to judge what your next purchase needs from your current sale first
If you are trying to move up without getting squeezed on both sides of the deal, start by matching your purchase plan to your sale timeline. My answer for Bruce Township, MI is to treat timing as the first decision, because a typical sale took 72 days last month and active listings were sitting even longer.
If you only remember one closed data point right now, make it 72 days that was the typical time for a sale in Bruce Township, MI over the latest closed period. Active homes were taking 110 days recently, and there were 13 listings still available at month end. This changes your plan because a move-up purchase is not just about what you want to buy. It also depends on how fast your current home can realistically convert into proceeds.
The pricing spread matters too. A typical active asking price was $1,185,000 recently, while the typical new listing came on at $539,900 and the typical closed price was $355,000. That tells me you need to define your budget from your likely sale outcome, not from the highest asking prices you see online. Start with your likely sale range, then back into your next payment and cash needs before you shop higher.
My practical steps are direct. First, decide whether your next move requires your current home to sell before you write on another property. Second, compare your home against the recent closed level and the 13 active competitors so you do not overestimate your proceeds. Third, keep your upgrade wish list ranked in order, because only 3 new listings were added recently and choice can stay narrow.
Looking at the latest numbers, the clearest signal was limited supply paired with a small number of closed sales. Supply stood at 2.17 months recently, and only 3 homes closed in the latest month. That is enough to justify a careful sequence prepare your current home, set expectations around a 96.7% average accepted price relative to asking, and avoid committing to the next house until your sale plan is realistic. Sellers who are also buying need that discipline most.
