Sell Your Commercial Property In Oakland County, MI

Who rents in Oakland County

Renters head 144,960 of the 530,460 occupied households in Oakland County, a 27.3% share in the 2020-2024 ACS. Owners hold the rest, at 385,500 households. Across Michigan, renters make up 26.8% of households, just below the Oakland County figure.

That renter base spreads across inner-ring suburbs more than it concentrates in one city. Pontiac counts 13,677 renter households, 53.4% of its residents, the highest renter share among the ten cities in this table. Southfield follows at 46.6% renters and 16,242 renter households, while Auburn Hills reaches 48.7% renters on a smaller base. Novi and Rochester Hills lean the other way, with renter shares near one in four.

Rents, growth and affordability

Oakland County's median gross rent climbed 27.4%, from $1,080 to $1,376, between the 2015-2019 and 2020-2024 surveys. Population grew far more slowly over the same span, up 2.1% to 1,279,825 residents, an increase of 26,640 people. Renter households slipped 0.8%, a loss of 1,241 households, even as rents rose.

Supply still expanded. Units in buildings of five or more units grew 8.1%, an increase of 7,775 units, to 103,551. Rental vacancy sits at 7.4%, above Michigan's 5.1% rate, which suggests Oakland County's new stock has outpaced lease-up in parts of the county.

Affordability is tightening. In the 2020-2024 ACS, 44.8% of Oakland County renters paid 30% or more of income on gross rent. HUD's FY2027 two-bedroom Fair Market Rent for the Detroit-Warren-Livonia HUD area is $1,459, effective October 1, 2026, just $83 above the county's median gross rent.

On price, Oakland County runs well above the state. Its $1,376 median gross rent compares with $1,129 for Michigan as a whole, a $247 gap that reflects the county's median household income of $97,760, up 22.7% from $79,698.

City-by-city comparison

Southfield carries the heaviest apartment stock among the ten cities tracked here, with 39.4% of its housing units in 5+ unit buildings. Auburn Hills follows at 35.8% and Farmington Hills at 30.4%. Rochester Hills and Troy sit near the county's 18.4% average.

Rent ranges widely. Novi tops the table at $1,747, and Rochester Hills follows at $1,644. Pontiac posts the lowest median gross rent, at $1,063, alongside the highest renter share. Vacancy swings from 5.7% in Auburn Hills to 12.5% in Madison Heights.

Pontiac and Southfield together hold a meaningful share of Oakland County's renter households, at 9.4% and 11.2% of the county total. Troy and Rochester Hills, by contrast, skew toward owner-occupied single-family homes.

Property taxes and assessment in Oakland County

Michigan assesses real property at 50% of true cash value, known as the state equalized value (SEV), under MCL 211.27a. Taxable value then rises only by the lesser of 5% or the inflation rate each year, until a transfer of ownership resets it to the full SEV the following year, a process known as uncapping.

That uncapping matters most at sale. A multifamily building's taxable value often sits well below its SEV after years of capped growth, so a buyer should underwrite the post-sale tax bill at the uncapped value, not the seller's current bill. Each Oakland County city sets its own local millage on top of the assessed value, so the exact rate depends on the parcel's municipality and school district.

Transfer tax applies at sale. Michigan charges $3.75 per $500 of value at the state level under MCL 207.525, plus $0.55 per $500 at the county level under MCL 207.504 for counties under 2,000,000 population, which covers Oakland County. The seller is liable and must pay the county treasurer within 15 days of the deed's delivery under MCL 207.523. On a $2,000,000 sale, that comes to $15,000 state plus $2,200 county, or $17,200 combined.

What this means if you sell in Oakland County

When you sell commercial property in Oakland County, MI, you sell into a renter pool that holds 27.3% of households and a 7.4% rental vacancy rate above the state average. Expect buyers to weigh that vacancy against your building's own occupancy, especially if you are selling commercial property in Oakland County with units in a higher-vacancy city like Madison Heights.

Taxes come next. Buyers underwrite the post-sale uncapped taxable value, not your current capped bill, since a transfer resets it to full SEV the following year under MCL 211.27a. Rent control is not a factor, since MCL 123.411 bars Michigan cities from setting rent levels on private rental property.

As a multifamily buyer in Oakland County, we review 5+ unit buildings from Pontiac to Novi as they stand today. Send a current rent roll, a T-12 and the latest tax statement, and we will price the building on those numbers.