Market file · Grand Traverse County, Michigan

Old Mission Peninsula home appraisals

Peninsula Township

The median owner occupied value on the Old Mission Peninsula was $706,900 for 2020 to 2024 (Census QuickFacts), about double the county median. The township has 42 miles of Great Lakes shoreline and a long running farmland preservation program. Bay frontage, views and farm restrictions all bear on price.

$706,900Median owner occupied home value, 2020 to 2024 ACS (Census QuickFacts)

6,068Population, 2020 Census (Census QuickFacts)

42 milesGreat Lakes shoreline in Peninsula Township (Resilient Michigan, 2023)

3,291 acresProtected through the township PDR program since 1994 (The Ticker, July 2022)

About double the county median

Census QuickFacts puts the 2020 to 2024 median owner occupied value at $706,900, compared with $339,400 for Grand Traverse County. Median household income was $137,787 and 90.2% of homes are owner occupied. The population was 6,068 in 2020, up from 5,433 in 2010. Homes priced above the 2026 county conforming limit of $832,750 need jumbo financing.

Before any comp is useful on Old Mission, the parcel has to be sorted: bay frontage, view lot, orchard, or land with sold development rights.

Frontage, orchards and sold development rights

Water frontage moves value here more than square footage. The peninsula runs about 17 miles north from Traverse City and splits Grand Traverse Bay into the East and West Arms, with Bowers Harbor and Old Mission Harbor as inlets. Inland, cherry orchards and vineyards fill the Old Mission Peninsula AVA. Voters approved a purchase of development rights program in 1994, and 3,291 acres had been protected under it by 2022. Land with a sold easement trades as farmland, so those sales cannot be used like open land comps.

Areas, lakes and neighborhoods in this file

Old Mission
Mapleton
Neahtawanta
Bowers Harbor
Old Mission Harbor
Mission Point
Power Island

Landmarks around Old Mission Peninsula

Old Mission Peninsula AVAFederally recognized wine region
Chateau Grand TraverseWinery
Chateau ChantalWinery
Bowers Harbor InnHistoric house
Power IslandIsland park in West Bay
Dougherty Mission HouseHistoric house
Old Mission InnNational Register of Historic Places

Common questions

How does the purchase of development rights program affect appraisals on Old Mission?

Since voters approved it in 1994, Peninsula Township has bought conservation easements on farmland, and 3,291 acres were protected by July 2022 (The Ticker). Payments are based on an appraisal of the development rights. A parcel with a sold easement cannot be split for homes, so it must be compared with similar restricted land, not open land.

Will my Old Mission home need a jumbo loan appraisal?

The median owner occupied value is $706,900 (2020 to 2024 ACS). The 2026 conforming limit for Grand Traverse County is $832,750 and the FHA limit is $541,287 (Homebuyer.com). Homes above the conforming limit use jumbo loans, and jumbo lenders set their own appraisal requirements.