Start with pace, available choices, and how close winning offers are landing to asking prices.
If you are deciding how aggressive to be before touring homes, my answer is to stay focused and fully prepared without assuming every house demands a rush. In Birmingham, MI, recent offers landed at 97.9% of asking, which points to competition, but not to careless overbidding.
If you only remember one closed data point right now, make it this a typical sale took 33 days last month. That gives buyers in Birmingham, MI a market with movement, but not chaos. There were 17 completed sales over the previous 30 days, and 25 homes were already under contract waiting to close, so the homes that fit tend to find their audience.
This changes your plan because supply was still limited. The market carried 2.67 months of supply recently and was labeled a seller's market, while 96 homes were active and 42 more came to market over the previous 30 days. I recommend setting your search filters tightly before you tour, so you do not spend time on homes that miss your budget, condition standard, or layout needs.
Where people get this wrong is assuming the highest asking prices define the whole market. Active homes in Birmingham, MI were priced at a typical $1,662,000 recently, but newly listed homes came out at $1,169,500 and a typical closed sale landed at $693,500. That spread tells me selection varies widely, so your first action step is to choose your true comfort range before you walk through the door. Your second action step is to decide which property issues you will accept and which ones end the conversation immediately.
Some metrics were not reported for this period. Still, the guidance is firm be ready, be selective, and let the recent pace and offer positioning shape your touring strategy instead of emotion.
