On May 1, when Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an exectuive order allowing Michigan’s real estate industry to get back to work, the Traverse City market rocketed. The pent-up high demand for real estate, along with the reconfiguration of social patterns due to remote work created an explosion in real estate demand. However, potential buyers may be priced out of the local market.
Southeast Michigan-based Pet Supplies Plus has purchased 40 Pet Valu locations in seven states, including Michigan. CEO Chris Rowland expects to top $1 billion in revenue for the second stratight year. With a record year in growth, Pet Supplies Plus plans to add more than 100 locations in 2021.
Loves Furniture is shrinking its business footprint due to supply chain issues in Asia, caused by COVID. The company plans to close Michigan stores in Dearborn, Waterford, Port Huron, Livonia, Burton, Saginaw, Bay City, Muskegon, and Petoskey, where it just opened a store on November 7, 2020. Although the company claims that customer demand is high, the company claims it can not fill the inventory needs of the stores.
Downtown businesses have lost a significant percentage of their consumers due to remote work trends. The number of empty commercial real estate sites is preventing the resurgence of downtowns. Owners are creatively repurposing empty sites to adapt to the need for affordable housing, remote employee wifi access, and coworking spaces.
Rising construction costs, due in part to a stressed supply and demand chain, cause Northern Michigan builders to focus on high-end homes in the interest of profits. Moderate and low-income buyers struggle to find affordable housing. MSHDA has established a program for the 2020-2021fiscal year to aid lower-income buyers purchase homes at an attainable price point.