Market file · Grand Traverse County, Michigan

Union Township home appraisals

Union Township is the least populous township in Grand Traverse County, with 514 people in 2020. Much of it is Pere Marquette State Forest, and the north and south branches of the Boardman River meet here. Lake homes at Jacks Landing on Rennie Lake and rural houses on wooded parcels near public land make up most of the market.

514Township population, 2020 census, least populous in the county (Wikipedia)

$242,000Median owner occupied home value, ACS 2020 to 2024, margin of error $96,820 (Census Reporter)

324Estimated housing units, ACS 2020 to 2024 (Census Reporter)

31.3 minMean commute to work, ACS 2020 to 2024 (Census Reporter)

Four mailing addresses, one quiet township

Union Township lies in the east of Grand Traverse County, against the Kalkaska County line. It covers 36 square miles, almost all of it land, and sits at about 889 feet. Homes here carry Fife Lake, Kingsley, South Boardman or Traverse City mailing addresses, depending on the road. The township holds the main source of the Boardman River. Housing is spread thin, with about 324 units across the whole township.

Only 514 people live here, and much of the land is state forest. Good comparable sales usually come from outside the township.

State forest and the Boardman River forks

Public land shapes this market. Wikipedia notes that much of the township is protected by the Traverse City Management Unit of the Pere Marquette State Forest, and the north and south branches of the Boardman River meet here. There are no state trunkline highways, though US 131 passes within 600 feet of the southeast corner. Jacks Landing, on Rennie Lake, is the named community in the northwest. The mean commute was 31.3 minutes in ACS 2020 to 2024. A 2015 county tax report lists Kingsley, Forest Area and Traverse City Area Public Schools districts in the township.

Areas, lakes and neighborhoods in this file

Jacks Landing
Boardman River forks
Pere Marquette State Forest

Landmarks around Union Township

Rennie LakeInland lake
Spider LakeInland lake

Common questions

How is a home next to state forest land appraised?

Like any rural home, with sales of similar size, age and land, adjusted for differences. In Union Township much of the land is Pere Marquette State Forest, per Wikipedia, so many parcels sit near public land. The appraiser looks for sales in similar settings and reports how buyers treated them, rather than applying a set adjustment.

Does Union Township have a lake community?

Yes. Jacks Landing is an unincorporated community on the shore of Rennie Lake, in the northwest of the township, per Wikipedia. A lake home there draws a different buyer than a house on wooded acreage near the Pere Marquette State Forest. An appraiser compares each one with sales of the same kind, from inside the township or nearby.