What Waterfront Actually Costs in West Michigan
Across eleven West Michigan markets, 5,249 waterfront homes sold over the last ten years. Eight of the eleven have a median waterfront sale price under $500,000: Grand Haven at $498,900, South Haven at $495,000, Holland at $474,950, Hudsonville at $420,000, Grand Rapids at $415,000, Muskegon at $400,000, Allendale at $381,500 and Zeeland at $360,000. Only three sit above it: East Grand Rapids at $1,900,000 on 55 sales, Spring Lake at $599,500 and the combined Douglas and Saugatuck market at $555,000. Sold dates September 7, 2016 through September 7, 2026 (source: flexmls Residential CMA, listings as of September 7, 2026).
One thing to fix before reading the table. This counts every kind of water in each town: Lake Michigan frontage, inland lake frontage, channel and river frontage, all of it. So it answers the question of what waterfront costs in a given town, not what frontage on one named lake costs. That is why Holland reads $474,950 here and $1,000,000 on our Lake Macatawa waterfront record, which measures one lake across 240 sales at a median of $1,000,000 over the same ten years, source MichRIC MLS. Both figures are correct and they answer different questions. If you want one named body of water, use that page and our five lakes compared. If you want to know what water costs in a town, use this one.
What waterfront costs, town by town
Eleven separate pulls, one per market, every price point and every type of water. Sold dates September 7, 2016 through September 7, 2026 (source: flexmls Residential CMA, listings as of September 7, 2026).
| Market | Sales | Median sale price | Median original ask | Median days on market | Median cumulative days | Average sale price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Grand Rapids | 55 sales over ten years | $1,900,000 | $2,150,000 | 40 | 54 | $2,111,462 |
| Spring Lake | 682 | $599,500 | $629,950 | 28.5 | 34 | $813,826 |
| Douglas and Saugatuck, combined | 276 | $555,000 | $581,950 | 37.5 | 42.5 | $851,023 |
| Grand Haven | 301 | $498,900 | $519,900 | 26 | 29 | $630,792 |
| South Haven | 390 | $495,000 | $544,000 | 45.5 | 52.5 | $808,205 |
| Holland | 952 | $474,950 | $489,900 | 15 | 16 | $729,895 |
| Hudsonville | 457 | $420,000 | $429,900 | 12 | 13 | $479,340 |
| Grand Rapids | 965 | $415,000 | $429,000 | 12 | 12 | $531,416 |
| Muskegon | 504 | $400,000 | $424,900 | 20 | 21 | $510,041 |
| Allendale | 410 | $381,500 | $389,900 | 13 | 17 | $422,272 |
| Zeeland | 257 | $360,000 | $350,000 | 8 | 8 | $372,366 |
| Total | 5,249 |
Two notes on how to read this table. Douglas and Saugatuck are drawn as one combined pull, not two, and the row says so. East Grand Rapids rests on 55 sales across a decade, which is a fraction of the volume behind every other row, so its median describes those 55 transactions rather than forecasting the next one.
The third and fourth columns are a median compared to a median across different properties, not a median of individual ratios. The median sale price and the median original asking price are each calculated separately across the whole set, so the gap between them is the distance between two midpoints. It is NOT a statement that sellers received a given percentage of their asking price, and no such figure is published on this page.
The cheapest waterfront sells the fastest
Zeeland carries the lowest median waterfront sale price of the eleven at $360,000, and the shortest median time on market at 8 days. East Grand Rapids carries the highest median at $1,900,000 on 55 sales over ten years, and takes 40 days. Sold dates September 7, 2016 through September 7, 2026 (source: flexmls Residential CMA).
The middle of the table follows the same order. Grand Rapids at a $415,000 median and Hudsonville at $420,000 both clear in 12 days, Allendale at $381,500 in 13 and Holland at $474,950 in 15, while Spring Lake at $599,500 takes 28.5 days and the combined Douglas and Saugatuck market at $555,000 takes 37.5. The pattern in this data is that the markets with lower medians also carry shorter median times on market. The table shows the association and nothing in this pull explains it, so no cause is offered here. Sold dates September 7, 2016 through September 7, 2026 (source: flexmls Residential CMA).
South Haven is the outlier, and separate pulls agree
South Haven breaks the pattern. Its median waterfront sale price of $495,000 sits ninth of eleven, but its median time on market of 45.5 days is the longest in the table, ahead of East Grand Rapids at 40 days on 55 sales. It also carries the widest gap between the two midpoints in the table: a $495,000 median sale against a $544,000 median original ask, across 390 sales. Sold dates September 7, 2016 through September 7, 2026 (source: flexmls Residential CMA).
A separate pull asking a different question points the same way. Across all South Haven property, not only waterfront, the median sale price for the twelve months ending September 2026 was $440,000 while the median asking price as of September 2026 was $599,950, source MichRIC MLS. Our South Haven waterfront record sets out that market in detail, and our record of listings that came off the market without selling tracks the other side of the same question across West Michigan. Two independent pulls, one measuring waterfront sales over ten years and one measuring all property over twelve months, both show South Haven pricing above where it closes. That is the kind of agreement worth acting on, because neither pull was derived from the other.
Zeeland is the only market where the median sale sits above the median ask
Zeeland records a median waterfront sale price of $360,000 against a median original asking price of $350,000, across 257 sales. Every other market in the table runs the other way, from Holland at $474,950 against $489,900 to South Haven at $495,000 against $544,000. Sold dates September 7, 2016 through September 7, 2026 (source: flexmls Residential CMA).
Read that carefully, because this is the row most easily misread. These are two separate midpoints calculated across different properties, not a measurement of what any seller achieved against their own asking price. It does not mean Zeeland sellers closed above their asking price. It means the middle of Zeeland waterfront sale prices sits above the middle of Zeeland waterfront original asking prices across the same ten years, which is a statement about two distributions and not about any transaction in them.
How this compares to Lake Michigan frontage
Our Lake Michigan frontage record measures the northern half of the shoreline at 592 sales, a median of $1,072,500 and a median 56.5 days on market, sold dates September 7, 2016 through September 7, 2026 (source: flexmls Residential CMA). The eleven markets on this page run from a $360,000 median in Zeeland to $1,900,000 in East Grand Rapids on 55 sales, with median times on market from 8 days to 45.5. The word waterfront covers both sets of numbers, and they are not the same purchase: one is frontage on the open lake and the other is every kind of water inside a town boundary, which is why the medians and the pace differ so widely between them.
Frequently asked questions
What does waterfront cost in West Michigan?
It depends on the town, and most of it is not a luxury market. Across 5,249 waterfront sales in eleven markets, eight have a median under $500,000, running from Zeeland at $360,000 to Grand Haven at $498,900. The three above it are the combined Douglas and Saugatuck market at $555,000, Spring Lake at $599,500 and East Grand Rapids at $1,900,000 on 55 sales over ten years. These figures count every kind of water in each town, not frontage on one named lake. Sold dates September 7, 2016 through September 7, 2026 (source: flexmls Residential CMA).
Which West Michigan town has the least expensive waterfront?
Of the eleven markets measured, Zeeland carries the lowest median waterfront sale price at $360,000 across 257 sales, followed by Allendale at $381,500 across 410 sales and Muskegon at $400,000 across 504 sales. Sold dates September 7, 2016 through September 7, 2026 (source: flexmls Residential CMA).
How long does waterfront take to sell?
The median ranges from 8 days in Zeeland to 45.5 days in South Haven across the eleven markets measured. Grand Rapids and Hudsonville both run 12 days, Allendale 13, Holland 15, Muskegon 20, Grand Haven 26, Spring Lake 28.5, the combined Douglas and Saugatuck market 37.5, and East Grand Rapids 40 on 55 sales over ten years. Sold dates September 7, 2016 through September 7, 2026 (source: flexmls Residential CMA).
Is waterfront in West Michigan a luxury market?
Mostly not. Eight of the eleven markets measured carry a median waterfront sale price under $500,000, and the two largest by volume are Grand Rapids at a $415,000 median across 965 sales and Holland at $474,950 across 952 sales. The exception is East Grand Rapids at a $1,900,000 median, which rests on 55 sales across the whole decade. Sold dates September 7, 2016 through September 7, 2026 (source: flexmls Residential CMA).
Method and limitations
The pull specification, in full: flexmls Residential CMA, listings as of September 7, 2026. Boards: MichRIC, Realcomp, MIRealSource, Greater Lansing REALTORS, Water Wonderland, Northern Great Lakes MLS. Property type Residential. Status Sold. Waterfront Yes. Sold date September 7, 2016 through September 7, 2026. One pull per city, eleven pulls in total.
- This counts every kind of water. Lake Michigan frontage, inland lake frontage, channel and river frontage all sit inside these figures, which is why a town median here will differ from the median for one named body of water in the same town.
- Douglas and Saugatuck are drawn as a single combined pull of 276 sales, not as two markets.
- East Grand Rapids rests on 55 sales across the full ten years. Its sample size is stated everywhere its median appears, including in the questions above.
- These are summary block figures: count, medians and days on market. No ten year trend and no price band breakdown is published here for any city, because a trend or a band distribution requires the full export rather than a summary block, and this pull is the latter. Trend figures published elsewhere on this site come from full exports and should not be mixed with these.
- The median sale price and the median original asking price are calculated separately across the whole set. Comparing them compares two midpoints across different properties. Neither this page nor this data supports a statement about the percentage of asking price that sellers received.
- A median is a midpoint across a set of past transactions. It is not an estimate of value for any specific property, and it does not predict what a particular listing will bring.
Deciding between towns
We track every market on the West Michigan lakeshore, from the Indiana line to Muskegon, and we pull this data ourselves. If you are deciding between towns, that comparison is the conversation worth having. Call or text (616) 344-9923.
Related pages
- West Michigan lakes compared: the same question asked by body of water rather than by town, across five named lakes.
- Lake Michigan frontage, north and south: ten years of open lake frontage on both halves of the shoreline, measured the same way.
- Lake Macatawa waterfront homes: what is available on Holland s largest inland water.
- South Haven waterfront real estate: the market this page identifies as the outlier.
- West Michigan luxury homes: the ten market reports covering the lakeshore and Grand Rapids.
- Data terms and citation: how these figures may be cited and what they may be used for.