St. Clair County, Michigan

Mortgage Broker in Clay Township, MI

Clay Township homes carry Algonac or Harsens Island addresses, from the canal streets of Pointe aux Tremble to island cottages reached by car ferry, so Samantha starts with the parcel record, then compares offers from multiple wholesale lenders for you.

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Buying a home in Clay Township

Clay Township, in St. Clair County, is home to about 8,357 residents in the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey (8,446 in the 2020 census) across about 35 square miles of land. Its ZIP codes also reach into Algonac, so the parcel record, not the mailing address, shows which unit's tax rates apply. Downtown Port Huron is about 27 miles north in a straight line, and downtown Detroit is about 29 miles southwest in a straight line.

By the numbers

Clay Township housing and mortgage snapshot

Values move. Treat these as orientation and let us pull current figures for the address you are considering.

$308,000

Typical home value, from the market research on this page

+51%

Typical rise in taxable value the year after a home sells, 2026 Uncapping Study

2

Residential ZIP codes: 48028, 48001

What financing looks like in Clay Township

Owners answering the Census survey for 2020 to 2024 put the median Clay Township home near $307,600, with a quarter of owned homes under about $202,600 and a quarter above about $427,500. No sale figure covers the township alone. Redfin's median for the three months ending September 2026 was about $325,000 in the Algonac 48001 ZIP code, where homes typically sold in about 33 days, and about $280,000 in the Harsens Island 48028 ZIP code, where only a few homes sold and a typical one took about 68 days. About two in three homes in 48001 are in the township and the rest in the City of Algonac. A typical house here prices well under the 2026 conforming limit of $832,750 and under the FHA limit of $541,287, so conventional, FHA and VA loans all fit, and jumbo financing only comes up on the larger waterfront homes once the amount borrowed passes the conforming limit.

Settle how you will use the home before you choose the loan. About one home in five in the township is held for seasonal use, and on Harsens Island it is more than half. A cottage you will not live in as your main home is financed as a second home, and it is taxed without the principal residence exemption, at 50.23 mills instead of 32.23. About 290 homes are manufactured homes, most of them in the Channel View, Algonac and Thornhollow communities off M-29 and Stone Road, and whether you own the land underneath decides which loans can work. For a primary home, MSHDA's MI 10K adds $10,000 toward the down payment for a qualifying first-time buyer using a MI Home Loan, and it comes due when the home is sold or refinanced, when the first mortgage is paid off, or when the buyer no longer lives there. The program's $566,355 price cap sits well above a typical Clay Township house.

Ask how the house is served before the inspection period ends. Clay Township buys its water from the City of Algonac, whose plant draws from the St. Clair River, and its water department serves almost 5,000 customers on the mainland and Harsens Island. Sewer runs mainly along M-29 and Anchor Bay Drive, and Harsens Island homes rely on septic systems, so an island house needs a septic inspection. Township water and sewer rates are set by the quarter: from July 1, 2026 the minimum bill is $181.60 with sewer and $68.30 for water only. Schedule a final water reading for the closing. For flood, enter the address on the FEMA flood map: in a high-risk zone the lender requires flood insurance, and the premium becomes part of the monthly payment.

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Clay Township and the City of Algonac share the Algonac 48001 ZIP code and Algonac Community Schools, yet Michigan Treasury's 2025 homestead total was 32.23 mills in the township and 37.28 in the city, about $780 a year apart on a $308,000 house at Samantha's planning number.

The market

The Clay Township housing market

The Census Bureau's American Community Survey puts the median owner-occupied home value in Clay Township near $307,600, across about 3,720 owner-occupied homes, with a median year built of 1975. The typical home value in Clay Township is near $308,000. Homeowners pay a median of about $3,575 a year in property taxes, an effective rate of about 1.16% of the median value.

Mailing addresses

Two post office names, one township

A Clay Township home can carry the name of a city it is not in. Home counts come from 2020 Census blocks inside Census ZIP code lines. Redfin's medians cover each whole ZIP code for the three months ending September 2026.

48001, Algonac: about 74% of homes

About 4,100 township homes across the whole mainland, from Perch Point and the canal streets to North River Road and Holland Road. The same ZIP code covers the City of Algonac, which taxes its homes separately. Redfin's ZIP-wide median was about $325,000, with a typical 33 days to a sale.

48028, Harsens Island: about 26%

About 1,440 homes, all of them inside the township on Harsens Island, from the ferry landing to Sans Souci and the Middle Channel. Only a few sold in the period, so Redfin's median of about $280,000 moves a lot from one quarter to the next.

Russell Island, Algonac 48001

About 125 Russell Island homes carry Algonac 48001 addresses, so a Clay Township parcel can sit on an island, reached by boat from the city, even when the mailing address reads Algonac.

Where to look

Clay Township neighborhoods

North River Road and Algonac State Park

North of the City of Algonac along North River Road and Stone Road, with Parkway Drive, Jankow Road and the Hemenger courts, bordered by Algonac State Park. About 290 homes, nearly all detached. Owner values near $272,900 with a wide margin near $64,000, typical home from 1962. Algonac 48001 addresses throughout.

Pearl Beach Boulevard and Phelps Road

Around Algonac High School and the township's Fire Station No. 1, with boating names such as Windjammer, Starboard and Portside courts off Pearl Beach Boulevard and Seaway Drive, plus the Channel View manufactured home community. About 395 homes, roughly 225 detached houses and about 130 manufactured homes. Owner values near $187,300 with a margin near $36,000, typical home from 1984.

Township Hall, Stone Road and Lakepointe

The middle of the mainland, from the Township Hall at 4710 Pointe Tremble Road north along Stone Road past the Kroger, with Lakepointe Boulevard, Island Drive, Taft Road and the Algonac and Thornhollow manufactured home communities. The most residents of any block group. About 825 homes, about 750 detached and about 75 manufactured. Owner values near $210,100 with a margin near $40,000, typical home from 1980.

Holland Road and the St. John's Marsh edge

Inland toward the north line, along Holland, Swartout, Macomb, Genaw and McKinley roads, with St. John's Marsh State Wildlife Area to the west. About 310 homes, nearly all detached houses. Owner values near $281,700 with a margin near $41,000, typical home from 1972. Algonac 48001 addresses.

Perch Point and Anchor Bay Drive

The west shore facing Anchor Bay, along Anchor Bay Drive and Dyke Road, with the canal lots of Perch Point, Balfour's Marina and the Decker's Landing boating access site. About 480 homes, nearly all detached. Owner values near $350,000 with a margin near $59,000, and a typical home from 1991, the newest of any block group here.

Pointe aux Tremble and the canal streets

Along Pointe Tremble Road west of the Township Hall, where canals run behind Bluebill, Cardinal, Flamingo, Audubon and Aqua Isle and along St. John Drive, out to Sassy Marina and the Ferry Dock Road landing for Harsens Island. About 1,150 homes, the most of any block group, about nine in ten detached. Owner values near $368,900 with a tight margin near $16,000, typical home from 1974.

Harsens Island north and the Middle Channel

The north and west of Harsens Island, from the ferry landing along North Channel Drive past the Middle Channel Golf and Country Club to the St. Clair Flats State Wildlife Area, with lanes called highways, such as Bates, Martz and Boydell. About 1,135 homes, nearly all detached, roughly six in ten held for seasonal use in the survey. Owner values near $426,800 with a wide margin near $97,000, typical home from 1961. About 990 homes have Harsens Island 48028 addresses and about 160 carry Algonac 48001.

Sans Souci, Grande Pointe and Russell Island

The south and east of Harsens Island, around the Sans Souci shops, post office and island fire station near the South Channel, with Grande Pointe and Maple Leaf, plus Russell Island off Algonac, reached by boat from the city. About 590 homes, nearly all detached, close to half held for seasonal use. Owner values near $294,900 with a wide margin near $92,000, typical home from 1966. About 450 homes have Harsens Island 48028 addresses, and Russell Island's roughly 125 use Algonac 48001.

Schools and commute

Schools

Every Clay Township home in the 2020 Census count, on the mainland and the islands alike, sits inside Algonac Community Schools, and only a sliver of open land at the north line falls in East China School District. Algonac High School stands on the mainland in the township, off Phelps Road. Michigan Treasury's 2025 homestead total with Algonac schools was 32.23 mills in Clay Township, 37.28 in the City of Algonac and 29.45 in the part of Ira Township the same district serves. With one district, the municipality on the parcel moves the bill, not the school code, so check that the parcel record names Clay Township before you plan around 32.23.

Commute

M-29, known locally as Pointe Tremble Road and Dyke Road, runs the length of the mainland, west toward New Baltimore and east through Algonac toward Marine City, and M-154 is the state highway on Harsens Island. Island homes reach the mainland by a privately run car ferry that runs all year, with longer hours in summer, a fare by vehicle type and no charge for walkers and bicycles. From the Township Hall, outside rush hour, downtown Algonac is about 4 minutes, Marine City and downtown New Baltimore about 17 and 18, Selfridge Air National Guard Base about 33, Mount Clemens about 37, downtown Port Huron about 45 and downtown Detroit a little over an hour. The Economic Development Alliance of St. Clair County lists McLaren Port Huron, Motherson (SMR Automotive), St. Clair County government and ZF Axle Drives in Marysville among the county's largest employers. The Census puts the average one-way commute near 38 minutes, with about two in three commuters on the road 30 minutes or more and about one worker in ten working from home.

Before closing

What to settle on a Clay Township house

Most of this is not on the listing sheet, and each item is easier to handle before the inspection period runs out.

The parcel. Confirm the record names Clay Township and read its taxable value. The assessing department answers at 810-794-9303, Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., closed from noon to 1.
Water, sewer or septic. The water department page lists the quarterly rates. Call 810-794-9303, option 3, to schedule the final water reading. An island house or a mainland house off the sewer lines needs a septic inspection, and septic permits come from the St. Clair County Health Department.
Flood and the shoreline. Look the address up on the FEMA flood map. Ask the seller for any EGLE permits behind a seawall, dock or boathouse, and check with the Building Department at 810-794-9320 before planning work of your own.
Island access. For a Harsens Island house, book the appraiser, inspector and movers around the ferry schedule, which runs longer hours in summer.
The exemption and the Board of Review. File the principal residence exemption if the house will be your main home. Value questions go to the March Board of Review.
Tax due dates. The treasury department collects the summer bill from July 1 and the winter bill from December 1. Ask for both of last year's bills so the proration and escrow come out right.

The township also runs a recycling and compost yard at 9625 Muskrat Run near the high school, and holds spring cleanups on the mainland and at Brown's Field on Harsens Island.

Michigan property taxes

Clay Township property taxes after you buy

The year after a Michigan home sells, its taxable value resets to half of the assessor's market value, so the seller's tax bill is not your tax bill.

In Clay Township, our 2026 Uncapping Study found taxable value typically rises about 51% the year after a sale. On a $300,000 home, near the typical Clay Township value, the first-year tax goes up roughly $1,630 at the Algonac schools rate. We build your payment on that post-sale number.

Looking at a Clay Township address? Our Michigan property tax calculator finds that property's published 2025 millage and works out the tax to plan for after you buy.

How Michigan taxable value works

In Samantha's words

In Michigan, don't just look at the current tax bill. Understand what could happen after ownership changes.

2025 millage

One school district, different Clay Township tax totals

Michigan Treasury's 2025 total millage, applied to Samantha's planning number of half the price on a $308,000 house. The actual bill follows the assessor's taxable value for the parcel.

Clay Township home: 32.23

About $3,223 a year on each $100,000 of taxable value, or about $4,960 at the planning number for a $308,000 house.

City of Algonac: 37.28

The same Algonac Community Schools, about $5,740 at the same planning number, so a house across the city line costs about $780 more a year.

Ira Township, Algonac schools: 29.45

The part of Ira Township that Algonac Community Schools serves totals about 2.8 mills less than Clay Township.

Cottage or rental in Clay Township: 50.23

Without the principal residence exemption, the total rises by 18 mills, about $7,735 at the planning number for a $308,000 house.

Local resources

Check Clay Township records yourself

The official offices behind the tax and school details on this page.

Clay Township Assessing, for parcel records and current taxable value
Algonac Community Schools, for district boundaries and enrollment
St. Clair County Equalization, for county property tax records

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Clay Township mortgage questions

If yours is not here, ask it on the call. There are no dumb questions.

What are Clay Township homes selling for?

No sale figure covers the township alone. Redfin’s median for the three months ending September 2026 was about $325,000 in the Algonac 48001 ZIP code, which takes in about three in four township homes, and about $280,000 in Harsens Island’s 48028, where only a few homes sold. The Census owner median for the township itself was about $307,600 over 2020 to 2024, and its block groups ran from about $187,300 around Pearl Beach Boulevard to about $426,800 on the north side of Harsens Island. We price the specific house, not the ZIP code.

The listing says Algonac. Is the house in the City of Algonac?

Often not. About 4,100 Clay Township homes have Algonac 48001 addresses, about two in three of the homes in that ZIP code. The Census geocoder places 4710 Pointe Tremble Rd, Algonac 48001, the Township Hall, in Clay Township, and 805 St. Clair River Dr, Algonac 48001 in the City of Algonac. Both are in Algonac Community Schools, yet Treasury’s 2025 homestead total was 32.23 mills in the township and 37.28 in the city, so the parcel record decides the bill.

How do I get to a Harsens Island home, and does it change the loan?

By car ferry from the mainland landing off Pointe Tremble Road to the island’s north shore, all year, with longer summer hours and a fare by vehicle type. Russell Island is reached by boat from Algonac. The loan works like any other, but plan the appraisal, inspection and septic check around the crossing, and tell us whether you will live there or use it as a cottage, because a second home is financed under its own rules.

Which school district taxes a Clay Township parcel?

Algonac Community Schools, for every home in the 2020 Census count, island homes included. Only a sliver of open land at the north line is in East China School District. The parcel record from the township assessing office still shows the school code, and it is worth reading before you plan the tax line.

Is the house on township water and sewer, or septic?

Township water reaches the mainland and Harsens Island, bought from the City of Algonac’s St. Clair River plant. Sewer runs mainly along M-29 and Anchor Bay Drive, and Harsens Island homes use septic systems, and a mainland house away from the sewer lines can be on septic too. Septic permits come from the St. Clair County Health Department, not the township. Call the township at 810-794-9303, option 3, to confirm the service and schedule a final water reading.

Do I need flood insurance in Clay Township?

Only when the home sits in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area and the loan is federally backed. Enter the address on the FEMA flood map before you make an offer, and get a quote early so the premium is in the payment we plan. Shoreline work such as a seawall or dock usually needs an EGLE permit, and the township Building Department at 810-794-9320 says whether a township permit is needed too.

What changes if I buy a cottage or a second home here?

The taxes, first. Without the principal residence exemption, Treasury’s 2025 total in Clay Township was 50.23 mills instead of 32.23, about $2,770 more a year on a $308,000 house at Samantha’s planning number. A second home is also financed under different rules than a primary home. Township water customers with sewer can schedule a seasonal turn off and on for $15 each way, which defers the sewer base fee while the home is closed.

When are Clay Township property taxes due?

Twice a year. The 2026 summer bill was payable July 1, with September 14 the last day without interest, and the 2026 winter bill is payable December 1, with February 16, 2027 the last day without penalty. Unpaid real property tax goes to the St. Clair County Treasurer after March 1. Value appeals go to the March Board of Review, which met March 9 to 11 in 2026.

Talk with a local mortgage expert

Tell Samantha what you are trying to do in Clay Township and she will tell you what actually matters for your situation, including whether the timing is right.

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Align Lending LLC, NMLS #2041154. Samantha Shelton, NMLS 1647301. Equal Housing Opportunity. Licensed in Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and Texas. Figures on this page are market research for orientation, not a quote. This page is for educational purposes only. It is not a credit decision, a preapproval, a commitment to lend, or an offer of credit.