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Oakland County, Michigan

Mortgage Broker in Wolverine Lake, MI

Looking on Wolverine Lake or a few streets back from it? Samantha shops your loan across multiple wholesale lenders, then checks the village and township tax bills, the sewer or septic, the well and the lake rights that come with that lot before you settle on a price.

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Buying a home in Wolverine Lake

Wolverine Lake is a small village of roughly 4,500 residents wrapped around a 265-acre, T-shaped all-sports lake that was created in the 1920s when developers dammed six smaller lakes (Wikipedia). Incorporated as a village in 1954, it sits inside Commerce Township in northwest Oakland County and shares the 48390 ZIP with parts of Walled Lake. There is almost no commercial activity inside the village itself, daily life leans on the nearby M-5 (Haggerty Connector) corridor, Costco, and the Commerce Township retail base, while paychecks come from Oakland County's broader metro Detroit job market and Walled Lake Consolidated Schools (Commerce Twp.). Median household income runs near $88,000 (Data USA). For buyers, the draw is clear: deeded lake access, swimming beaches, and boat launches minutes from a highway connector.

By the numbers

Wolverine Lake housing and mortgage snapshot

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

$269,000

Typical home value, from the market research on this page

+38%

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

0.71%

Property tax current owners pay, as a share of value. A buyer's bill can reset higher the year after a sale

1

Residential ZIP code: 48390

What financing looks like in Wolverine Lake

Redfin counted a median Wolverine Lake sale of about $318,000 for the three months ending September 2026, with homes going under contract in about 27 days. That median sat about a fifth below a year earlier while Redfin's price per square foot rose about 6%, so the drop says more about which houses sold than about values. Commerce Township's assessor, who values every village parcel, gives a steadier read: 66 off-water house sales from April 2023 to March 2025 had a median of $295,000, and 18 lakefront sales a median of $724,500, up to $1,575,000 for a house built in 2013 on Solano Drive.

Off-water prices sit under the 2026 FHA limit for Oakland County, $541,287, and the conforming limit of $832,750. They also fit inside the $566,355 price cap on MSHDA's MI Home Loan, which eligible first-time buyers within its income limits can pair with MI 10K assistance. On the water the loan type can change. All but one of those 18 lakefront sales were above the FHA limit, and four were above the conforming limit. A jumbo loan, which usually asks for more cash reserves, comes in on those only when the amount borrowed passes the limit. The Heron Hills condominiums at the northeast corner, built from 2005 to 2007, sold for $220,000 to $311,000, and a condo loan also needs the association to pass the lender's review.

Two village details often reach the loan file. Pressure sewer has come in street by street through special assessment districts, paid over 10 years, and a house that connects has to abandon its septic tank. The village's water page lists two small community well systems, Laguna Vista and Penny Lake Estates, and its building permits ask for site plans showing the well and the septic, so confirm which water source and which waste line the house uses, and whether any sewer assessment is still owed. The other is the flood map: FEMA's high-risk Zone A covers about 6% of the village's land, mostly a fringe along the shore, and a house inside it needs flood insurance on a federally backed loan.

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A Wolverine Lake home skips Commerce Township's 2.9-mill sheriff assessment and pays the village's own 9.48 mills instead, for a 2025 homestead total of 36.81 mills against 30.23 in the township around it, with the same schools.

The market

The Wolverine Lake housing market

Zillow pegs the typical Wolverine Lake village home value near $269,000, up about 12.9% year over year (Zillow). The signal splits at the village line: across the wider 48390 ZIP, median sale prices run higher (about $288,000 to $302,000), yet Redfin showed price-per-square-foot down roughly 10% YoY in May 2026, meaning the waterfront village tier is outperforming the broader ZIP (Redfin). Homes here move quickly: a median of about 23 days on market in 48390 (down about 8% YoY), and closer to 20 days in Walled Lake proper. Demand is driven by all-sports lake access, the school district, and the M-5 commute.

On the record

What Wolverine Lake houses sold for

Commerce Township's assessor values every village parcel, and its 2026 sales study lists the arm's-length village sales from April 2023 to March 2025. Redfin adds the latest three months. Each card names its source.

Off the water: $295,000

Median of 66 house sales, from $150,000 for a 1952 house on Adelaide Drive to $471,000 for a 2018 colonial on Dunreath Road. About four in five were built from 1950 to 1979, most on a fifth to half an acre.

On the water: $724,500

Median of 18 lakefront sales, from $499,900 for a 1960 ranch on Solano Drive to $1,575,000 for a 2013 house on the same street. Four were above the conforming loan limit.

Heron Hills condos: $290,000

Median of 11 sales between August 2023 and September 2024, from $220,000 to $311,000, for attached units built from 2005 to 2007.

Frontage priced by the foot

The township's 2026 land study values lakefront land at $5,490 per effective front foot. On 30 lakefront sales from 2022 to 2025, land made up about 56% of the price.

Redfin: about $318,000

Median sale for the three months ending September 2026, with 17 homes sold in September and about 27 days to a contract. Price per square foot, about $203, was up about 6%.

ZIP 48390: about $315,000

Redfin's median for the whole ZIP code over the same three months. The village is about a tenth of the ZIP's land, so that figure is mostly Commerce Township and the City of Walled Lake.

Where to look

Wolverine Lake neighborhoods

Laguna Vista and Laguna Drive

Laguna Drive and Laguna Court, with Los Arboles, Palomas and Manzano drives around them, south of Village Hall on Glengary Road. FEMA's records call it Laguna Vista Subdivision No. 1, and one of the village's two community well systems carries the Laguna Vista name, drawing from two wells over 100 feet deep. Off-water houses built from 1958 to 1972 sold for $196,000 to $370,000 from 2023 to early 2025 by township records, and Redfin shows 815 Manzano at $377,000 in September 2026. On the water, a Laguna Drive house sold for $690,000 in October 2024.

Clara Miller Park, Woodlawn and Roselawn

Clara Miller Park, the village's 13 and a half acre park off Benstein Road, with a pavilion and summer restrooms, sits beside a grid of 1960s and early 1970s houses on Woodlawn, Roselawn, Brisbane and Terry Drive, most on a fifth to half an acre. Township records show sales here from $198,000 to $390,000 between April 2023 and September 2024, and Redfin shows 2388 Woodlawn selling for $296,500 in October 2026 after listing at $325,000.

Benstein Road and the west edge

Terrapin, Tellico, Ellington and Darnell streets, Apple Orchard Lane and Avery Court, between Benstein Road and the village's west line. Building runs a little later here, from the late 1960s to 1984, and township records show sales from $230,000 to $327,000 in 2023 to early 2025. Redfin shows 2150 Benstein at $279,900 and 2363 Darnell at $247,000 in September 2026. The Census block group for this side of the village, from Laguna Vista to Delmonte Street, shows an owner median near $246,000, a typical home from 1973 and every home detached.

Spring Lake Heights and Delmonte Street

The west arm of the lake, in plats FEMA's records call Spring Lake Heights and its annex, a name that recalls Spring Lake, one of the six small lakes the 1920s dam joined. Lakefront houses on Delmonte Street built from 1970 to 1974 sold for $600,500 in May 2023, $976,000 in August 2024 and $755,624 that October. Our sample of FEMA's map puts the largest stretch of high-risk Zone A on dry village land near the west end of Delmonte, so check this end of the street on the flood map first.

Oak Island

Stuart's Oak Island formed on Dr. Howard Stuart's land when the dam raised the water, and Oak Island Drive, reached from Oakview off Glengary Road, has a village pocket park. FEMA's records list Stuart's Oak Island Subdivision among the lots where a map amendment took the house out of the high-risk zone while part of the lot stayed in. Two lakefront sales on Oak Island Drive show the range, $635,000 in June 2022 and $555,000 in August 2025.

Solano and Ventura drives

Lakefront lots near the middle of the village, where FEMA's records name the Ventura Drive plat Wooded Shores. The township recorded the village's only three sales above $1 million from April 2023 to March 2025 here: $1,575,000 for a 2013 house on Solano Drive in April 2024, $1,100,000 for a 2018 house on Ventura Drive that July and $1,324,000 for a 2016 house on Solano in February 2025. A 1960 ranch on more than an acre on Solano sold for $499,900 in March 2024. FEMA has issued four map amendments for Wooded Shores lots, three on Ventura.

Wolverine Lake Heights and Angola Street

East-side lakefront and the streets behind it, Angola, Helmsford and Glencove, in plats FEMA's records call Wolverine Lake Heights and Frischerof. Lakefront sales ran $509,000 on Helmsford Drive in 2022 and $667,500 on Angola Street in August 2025, while 1957 ranches on Glencove Road sold for $301,000 and $316,000 in 2023. Low ground around Helmsford Drive holds another patch of Zone A. The Census block group for the east half, from Oak Island to Shankin, shows an owner median near $437,000, give or take about $43,000, a typical home from 1965 and about one home in five in a building of five or more units.

Tampa Drive and the South Commerce Road shore

The northeast shore along South Commerce Road, with Tampa Drive, Payne Court, Ethel Drive and Briar Ridge. Lakefront houses sold for $565,000 on Payne Court in January 2022, $600,000 and $630,000 on South Commerce in 2024 and $605,000 for a 1971 brick ranch on Tampa in 2023. Off the water, late 1950s ranches on Ethel sold for $255,000 and $285,000 and a 2019 colonial on Briar Ridge for $470,000. Redfin shows 2622 Tampa Drive at $318,000 in September 2026.

Shankin and Penny Lake Woods

Shankin follows the southeast shore, with Wanda and Wabasso behind it. FEMA's records call several of the lakefront lots Penny Lake Woods, and the township's land study lists five lakefront sales on Shankin from $625,000 to $865,000 between 2022 and 2025. Off the water, a 1950 house on Shankin sold for $255,000 in 2024, older ranches on Wanda and Wabasso for $276,000 and $310,000, and a 1966 ranch on Shankin Court for $416,500. Redfin shows 1813 Shankin at $495,500 in September 2026.

Penny Lake Estates, Pinecrest and Sunset

The village history tells of Penny Lake, a pond at the lake's lower southeast corner until the narrow strip of land beside it was removed as shoreline homes went up. The name lives on in Penny Lake Road and in the Penny Lake Estates community well system, two wells 291 feet deep. Houses from 1967 to 1969 on Penny Lake Road, Pinecrest and Sunset drives sold for $265,000 to $315,000 in 2023 and 2024. The Census block group for the south side shows an owner median near $285,000, a typical home from 1974 and 419 of its 435 homes owner-occupied.

Wolverine Drive, Amenia Park and Dunreath

Wolverine Drive follows the south shore, and the streets behind it, Amenia, Ladd, Lucille, Adelaide and Alberton, mix houses from the 1920s to the 1990s around Amenia Park, a pocket park between Wolverine Drive and Ladd Road. Lakefront sales on Wolverine Drive ran $560,000 to $825,000 in 2023 and 2024, and a 1925 house at 600 Wolverine sold for $652,000 in June 2024 and $695,000 in August 2025. Off the water, prices went from $150,000 on Adelaide to $390,000 for a 1997 ranch on Amenia, and a 2018 colonial on Dunreath Road sold for $471,000.

Heron Hills condominiums

Attached condominiums at the northeast corner, on Heron Hills Drive and Egret, Widgeon, Golden Eye and Teal lanes, built from 2005 to 2007 by township records. Eleven sold between August 2023 and September 2024 for $220,000 to $311,000, a median of $290,000. A condo loan needs the association to pass the lender's review, so ask early for its budget, reserves and insurance. Low ground near Turtle Creek Lane is in Zone A, and the Census block group here runs well past the village line, so its figures say little about these units.

Before you write an offer

What to settle on a Wolverine Lake house first

Each of these is particular to the village, and each is easier to settle while you can still negotiate.

  • The lot's lake rights. A lakefront lot, a back lot with a share in a subdivision outlot and a house near a public road ending carry different rights. The village's Marine Division page links its guide to riparian rights, docking and the 1999 keyhole rule, and the plat and deed restrictions decide the rest.
  • Sewer or septic, and any assessment owed. Pressure sewer arrives by special assessment district and is paid over 10 years, and a connected house runs a grinder pump that needs power. The village's Water and Sewer page has the connection packet and the 2025 community well water reports.
  • Where the water comes from. A private well or one of the two community systems. On a community well the village purges the service line for $35, which it suggests every two to three years. On a private well, ask for a recent water test.
  • The flood map. Search the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center and ask the seller for any letter of map amendment on the lot.
  • Plans to add on or rebuild. The village Building Department asks for site plans showing the septic, the well and the setbacks, most permits need Oakland County Health Department sign-off, and a permit generally takes about 10 business days. Dock and shoreline work can also need EGLE permits.
  • Three tax bills, one assessor. The village Treasurer page lists the village levy and its due dates, and the Commerce Township Assessing Department values village parcels, with the township's Board of Review meeting each March.

The neighborhood figures come from township sales records and small-area Census estimates, which can miss by a wide margin, so we check recent sales for any house you are serious about.

Schools and commute

Schools

Census school district boundaries put every part of the village in Walled Lake Consolidated Schools, so the school levies are the same on every Wolverine Lake parcel. No public school building sits inside the village line. By federal school location data the nearest district buildings are Walled Lake Central High School on East Oakley Park Road, about three quarters of a mile from Village Hall in a straight line, Glengary Elementary on Woodbury Street, about nine tenths of a mile, and Mary Helen Guest Elementary on Decker Road, about a mile and a quarter. The district assigns buildings by address, so confirm a street with the district's enrollment office before counting on one. What moves the tax here is the village, not the district: Michigan Treasury's 2025 homestead totals with Walled Lake schools were 36.81 mills in the village, 30.23 in the rest of Commerce Township, 35.82 in Wixom and 41.00 in the City of Walled Lake.

Commute

Wolverine Lake has no freeway of its own. From Village Hall on Glengary Road, OSRM routing in light traffic reaches M-5, the Haggerty Connector, in about 3 miles and 8 minutes by South Commerce, Decker and Maple roads, and I-96 with I-275 in about 7.6 miles and 13 minutes. Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi is about 7 miles and 16 minutes away, GM's Milford Proving Ground about 13 miles and 27 minutes, Corewell Health's Royal Oak hospital about 19 miles and 36 minutes and Stellantis headquarters in Auburn Hills about 18 miles and 38 minutes. Downtown Detroit is about 32 miles and 49 minutes by 14 Mile Road and the Lodge Freeway, Detroit Metro Airport about 33 miles and 46 minutes by M-5 and I-275, and downtown Ann Arbor about 30 miles and 46 minutes by M-14. Oakland County's posted list of its largest employers, from Crain's in December 2023, puts Corewell Health first with 14,580 workers in the county, Stellantis second with 11,524 and General Motors third with 7,451. Census estimates for 2020 to 2024 put the average one-way commute near 24 minutes, with about one worker in seven working from home.

Michigan property taxes

Wolverine Lake 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 Commerce Township, which assesses Wolverine Lake, our 2026 Uncapping Study found taxable value typically rises about 38% the year after a sale. On a $275,000 home, near the typical Wolverine Lake value, that is roughly $1,380 more in first-year tax at the village's homestead millage. We build your payment on that post-sale number.

Looking at a Wolverine Lake 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

Don't build your budget around somebody else's tax bill. The seller's tax history tells us something about the property. It does not automatically tell us what your taxes are going to look like as the new owner.

2025 homestead millage

Where a Wolverine Lake tax bill comes from

Michigan Treasury's 2025 totals for a homestead with Walled Lake Consolidated Schools, in mills. One mill is $1 for each $1,000 of taxable value. The first three cards break down the village's total, the next two compare neighbors with the same schools.

Village of Wolverine Lake: 36.81

About $3,681 a year for each $100,000 of taxable value, across three bills. A home that is not your principal residence pays 54.47.

The village levy: 9.48

Billed by the village on July 1 and payable without penalty through August 31. Its general fund pays for the village police department, public works and lake improvement.

Township fire, not sheriff

Commerce Township's winter bill carries its voted 2.8-mill fire assessment on village parcels, but its 2.9-mill sheriff assessment is not billed to them.

Rest of Commerce Township: 30.23

The same schools and county levies without the village, about $658 a year less per $100,000 of taxable value. Our 2026 Uncapping Study puts the township's typical rise at sale near 38%.

City of Walled Lake: 41.00

About $419 more a year per $100,000 of taxable value than the village, and the Study's jump at sale there was about 52%.

Samantha's planning number

Half the price times 36.8119 mills: about $5,980 a year on a $325,000 house and about $13,340 on a $725,000 lakefront house. It is deliberately high, not what the law sets, because the assessor's value decides the bill.

Local resources

Check Wolverine Lake records yourself

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

What our clients say

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Wolverine Lake mortgage questions

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

What are Wolverine Lake homes selling for in 2026?

Redfin’s median for the three months ending September 2026 was about $318,000, with homes under contract in about 27 days. That was about a fifth below a year earlier while price per square foot rose about 6%, which points to the mix of homes sold. Commerce Township’s assessing records for April 2023 to March 2025 split it more usefully: a median of $295,000 for 66 houses off the water, $724,500 for 18 on it and $290,000 for 11 Heron Hills condos. The $269,000 typical value in this page’s opening card is Zillow’s estimate across village homes, a different measure again.

Maybe. The Postal Service lists Walled Lake as the default city name for 48390 and also accepts Wolverine Lake and Commerce Township anywhere in the ZIP code. By Census boundaries the village is only about a tenth of the ZIP’s land, with Commerce Township outside the village about 72% and the City of Walled Lake about 18%. Each taxes differently with the same Walled Lake schools: 36.81 homestead mills in the village, 30.23 in the township and 41.00 in the city in 2025. In the township’s assessing records, village parcel numbers carry an EW prefix, so the parcel number settles it.

It depends on the street. The village builds pressure sewer district by district: a special assessment district can start when owners of 51% or more of the properties sign a petition, the sewer cost is assessed to each property over 10 years, and connection costs can be spread the same way. A connecting house pays a $550 application fee and must abandon its septic tank, $1,300 if the village’s contractor does it, and then runs its own grinder pump, which needs power. Water comes from a private well or one of two community well systems, Laguna Vista and Penny Lake Estates, both drawing from the Duncan Aquifer. Ask the seller which the house has and whether any sewer assessment is still owed.

Only if the lot touches the lake, or is platted to. The village’s guide to lake access says lakefront owners generally hold the rights to docks, mooring and the shoreline, and its keyhole ordinance, Section 1240.7 of the village code since 1999, bars using a lakefront parcel to give docking to homes that are not on the water. Many subdivisions predate that rule, so a back lot may share a subdivision outlot or park under its plat and deed restrictions, which the association enforces, not the village. Public road endings allow launching and drop-offs but no private docks or overnight mooring. Read the plat before you pay for lake access.

Most houses do not, but check the lot. Our sample of FEMA’s flood map, in effect since September 29, 2006, puts about 6% of the village’s land in high-risk Zone A, mostly a fringe along the shore plus low ground near Delmonte Street, Helmsford Drive and the Heron Hills condominiums. Zone A here has no published base flood elevation. FEMA has issued 22 letters of map amendment for village lots, 13 of them confirming the house stands outside the zone while part of the lot is in it. A federally backed loan on a house inside the zone requires flood insurance, so ask the seller for any amendment letter.

On three bills. The village bills its own 9.48 mills on July 1, payable without penalty through August 31. Commerce Township sends the summer bill, due by September 14, and the winter bill, due by February 14, which carries the township’s 2.8-mill fire assessment but not its 2.9-mill sheriff assessment. The village has its own police department. Michigan Treasury’s 2025 homestead total came to 36.81 mills, about $3,681 a year for each $100,000 of taxable value, and 54.47 for a home that is not your principal residence. If you escrow, the account has to cover all three bills.

On purpose. Each fall the village lowers the lake about 18 inches so lakefront owners can reach the shoreline for maintenance, aiming for the winter level by December 1. After the ice clears the dam gates go back up, with augmentation wells added if needed, to reach summer level by June 1. The federal dam inventory lists the village as the dam’s owner, and a nine-member Water Management Board advises the council on the drawdown, weed treatment and the shoreline. The village’s 2025 to 2026 budget sets aside $181,100 for lake improvement. Dock, shoreline and sanding work can also need state EGLE permits.

Sometimes. Of the 18 lakefront sales in the township’s records from May 2023 to February 2025, four were above the 2026 conforming limit of $832,750, from $976,000 on Delmonte Street to $1,575,000 on Solano Drive. Jumbo depends on the amount borrowed, not the price, so a larger down payment can keep a loan under the limit. All but one of those lakefront sales were above the $541,287 FHA limit, while off-water houses, at $150,000 to $471,000, fit FHA and conventional loans. They also sit inside MSHDA’s $566,355 price cap.

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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.

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