Why would two homes, half a mile apart, on the same roads, in the same school district zip code, sell for prices four hundred thousand dollars apart? If you have started shopping for a home in Commerce Township, you have probably already run into this without knowing why. You pull up a listing on Union Lake priced well into seven figures, then a similar square footage a short drive away on Lower Straits Lake priced hundreds of thousands lower, and the only explanation the portal gives you is "location, location, location." That is not an answer. It is a shrug.
The real answer sits in the water itself, not the walls around it.
The One Number That Hides Everything
Search for the Commerce Township housing market and you will land on a single figure fast: the average home value sits around $386,637, up roughly 3.5 percent year over year as of the middle of 2026. That number is accurate. It is also nearly useless if you are trying to buy on the water, because it blends together roughly 28 named lakes spread across more than 1,700 acres, plus every inland subdivision that has no lake access at all.
Look at the median list price instead and the picture shifts again. Through the summer of 2026, that figure sat closer to $565,000, pulled upward because a larger share of what is currently on the market happens to be lakefront and larger homes. Neither number tells you what a specific lake costs. Both are averages of very different markets stacked on top of each other.
Commerce Township earned its old nickname, the Lakes Area, honestly. Almost anywhere you choose to live puts you within a mile of water. But which lake you choose changes your price more than square footage, more than lot size, and often more than the school district itself.
What the Water Actually Costs, Lake by Lake
Here is a rough sense of how far apart these submarkets sit, based on current listing activity and closed transaction patterns across the township's best known lakes.
| Lake | Access Type | Typical Entry Price | What Drives It |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commerce Lake (North and South) | Private, no public launch | $450,000 to $600,000 entry, $600,000 to $900,000 mid-range, $1,000,000+ for custom estates | Access limited entirely to lakefront owners |
| Union Lake | Large, deep, all-sports | Highest price per square foot in the township | Largest, deepest lake, strongest luxury demand |
| Lower and Middle Straits Lakes | Public, all-sports | More affordable entry than Commerce or Union | Public access trades some exclusivity for reach |
| Lake Chemung | Quieter shoreline, less boat traffic | Mid-range, below Union Lake ceiling | Tighter-knit community along Richardson Road |
| Proud Lake corridor | Borders state recreation land | Below direct-lakefront premium | Trail and river access without private dock costs |
| Strawberry Lake and Bass Lake | Smaller, quieter waterfront | More accessible than Union or Commerce | More variability in lot size and home age |
Commerce Lake is the clearest example of the mechanism at work. It is made up of North and South Commerce Lake combined, roughly 236 to 262 acres with depths reaching past 60 feet in places, and it has no public boat launch. Access belongs only to the people who own shoreline there. That single fact, not the lake's size or depth, is what keeps entry-level lakefront cottages starting near $450,000 and custom estates pushing past a million. Scarcity of access is doing the pricing work.
Union Lake tells a different version of the same story. It is the township's largest and deepest lake, and it carries the strongest luxury demand in Commerce Township, consistently commanding the highest price per square foot of any lake here. Size and depth do the work on Union Lake in a way they simply do not on a smaller private lake, because there is more usable water and more buyers competing for a piece of it.
Meanwhile Lower and Middle Straits Lakes give you a genuine public, all-sports lake experience at a noticeably lower entry point than Commerce or Union. You are not paying less because the water is worse. You are paying less because the access is shared rather than restricted to a single private association.
The Paperwork That Slows Down a Closing
If you find the right lake and the right price, the next surprise usually shows up in the file, not the listing photos.
Riparian rights and dock permits need to be documented before a lakefront listing goes to market. Buyers' attorneys ask for this paperwork immediately, and on lakes like Union Lake, dock rights are typically documented and defended closely during negotiation because they represent real, transferable value. A home without a clean, filed dock permit is not necessarily a bad buy. It is a slower one, because that documentation has to get sorted before anyone can close with confidence.
If you are shopping seriously on any of these lakes, ask your agent to pull the riparian rights and dock permit history on a property before you fall in love with it. It is a fifteen-minute question that can save you weeks at the closing table.
The Boundary Line the Listing Sheet Does Not Mention
Here is the detail that catches even careful buyers off guard. The line between Commerce Township and West Bloomfield runs directly through the Union Lake area. Two homes that look identical from the water, same shoreline, same dock style, same view, can sit in different townships and different school districts depending on exactly where that boundary falls.
Most of Commerce Township is served by Walled Lake Consolidated Schools, with the northern part of the township zoned into Huron Valley Schools. On Union Lake specifically, that boundary can place neighboring lakefront homes into different districts entirely. If school assignment matters to your decision, confirm it for the exact parcel, not just the neighborhood name on the listing.
Reading the Market Pace Correctly Right Now
The headline for the second half of 2026 has been consistent: the Commerce Township market has shifted from the frantic, multiple-offer pace of recent years toward something more balanced, with well-priced homes averaging around 29 days to pending through June and July.
That balanced framing is true for the township overall. It is not equally true for every lake. Premium lakefront homes and properties in the strongest school zones are still moving in days, not weeks, even while the broader market gives buyers more room to negotiate. If your search is centered on Commerce Lake or Union Lake specifically, the calmer overall market pace can create a false sense of security. Be ready to move quickly once the right listing appears, because the lakefront segment is not cooling at the same rate as everything around it.
A Few Questions Worth Asking Before You Tour
Is every lake in Commerce Township open to public boat traffic? No. Commerce Lake has no public launch and access is limited to lakefront property owners, the same way Lake Sherwood is private and residential. The Straits Lakes are public, all-sports water open to a wider pool of users, and Union Lake carries far more owners and boat traffic than a small private association ever would. That distinction alone explains a large share of the price gap between them.
Does a bigger lake automatically mean a higher price? Not necessarily. Union Lake's size and depth support the highest price per square foot in the township, but the Straits Lakes are also genuine all-sports water at a noticeably lower entry price, because public access changes the pricing math independent of acreage.
Why do lakefront closings sometimes take longer than expected? Riparian rights and dock permits often need to be tracked down and documented before a lakefront sale can close cleanly. If that paperwork was never filed properly by a previous owner, sorting it out adds real time to the transaction.
If you are weighing which of these lakes actually fits your budget, your boating plans, and your school priorities, that is exactly the kind of street-by-street question a general Oakland County search cannot answer for you. Anne Shields works Commerce Township, Milford, White Lake, and Wolverine Lake every day and can walk you through what a specific shoreline, dock, and school boundary actually mean for your offer. Schedule a free consultation before you fall for a view and miss the fine print underneath it.
