Market file · Charlevoix County, Michigan

Walloon Lake home appraisals

Melrose Township

At the top of the regional lake market, ZIP 49796 at Walloon Lake had a typical Zillow value of $1,053,267 in August 2026, up 11.1% in a year. A fall 2025 Lake Homes Realty report put the lake's average lake home list price at $6.44 million, highest in the country. The village sits at the lake's east end in Melrose Township.

$1,053,267Zillow typical home value, ZIP 49796, August 2026 (via ClosingIQ)

$285,400Median value, owner occupied homes, Walloon Lake CDP, ACS 2020 to 2024

$262,600Median value, owner occupied homes, Melrose Township, ACS 2020 to 2024

4,270Acres of lake surface (Walloon Lake Association, July 2025)

A million dollar ZIP around a modest village

The numbers here split hard. Zillow's 49796 index passed $1 million in 2026, while owners in the Walloon Lake census place put their median at $285,400 and owners across Melrose Township at $262,600 in the 2020 to 2024 survey. Those figures describe different housing stocks. A village home off US 131 and a house on the water need separate comparable sales, even with the same mailing address.

Walloon Lake has 30.3 miles of shore and five townships around it.

Two counties share one shoreline

Walloon Lake covers 4,270 acres with 30.3 miles of shoreline and straddles Charlevoix and Emmet counties. Five townships touch it: Melrose, Bay and Evangeline on the Charlevoix side, Resort and Bear Creek on the Emmet side. In July 2025 all five approved a joint watershed collaborative. Hemingway's boyhood cottage, Windemere, stands on the north shore in Resort Township. Tax rates and zoning change partway around the lake.

Areas, lakes and neighborhoods in this file

Walloon Lake village
Melrose Township
Bear River outlet
Clarion
Lake Junction
Troutdale
Wildwood

Landmarks around Walloon Lake

Walloon LakeInland lake
Ernest Hemingway CottageHistoric house

Common questions

Is Walloon Lake in Charlevoix County or Emmet County?

Both. The lake straddles the county line. The village of Walloon Lake, at the east end where the Bear River drains out, is in Melrose Township, Charlevoix County. Resort and Bear Creek townships cover the Emmet side. The county and township decide the tax rate and which assessor sets the taxable value.

What did the 2025 lake home report say about Walloon Lake?

Lake Homes Realty's fall 2025 report, covered by Crain's Detroit Business, ranked Walloon Lake first in the nation for average lake home list price at $6.44 million for the three months ending July 30. Those are asking prices, not closed sales, and a few large estates can move an average on a lake this size.