While I review the entire lake access market often, it’s important to take a look at individual associations to determine their desirability or lack thereof in the marketplace. Country Club Estates in Fontana has long been a stalwart of the lake access market, with its large size, attractive Fontana location, golf course, and large sand beach. The association has always been fairly active, and most directly compares with Cedar Point Park in Williams Bay in terms of value and convenience to the waterfront. Country Club hasn’t been immune to the stresses of the overall real estate market, and prices in this association are off on average around 15% from the 2007 market highs. Yes, I said 2007. Our county wide median high sales price was acheived during 2007, not 2006 or 2005 as it was in many other national markets. Yet despite the slump, Country Club continues to be a desirable option for those seeking entry level lake access homes. Then again, that sentence isn’t entirely productive, since Country Club offers homes ranging in price from around $200k to well over a million bucks, depending on the size and whether or not there’s a lake view involved.
I was at a closing for a cottage in Country Club a couple of weeks ago, when an attorney told me about a famous Chicago family who owned a home in Country Club Estates many years ago. This story is unsubstantiated, and tax record searches I performed this morning didn’t really clear this claim up, but this attorney swears that Richard J. Daley purchased a vacation home here at a time when Richard M. was just a little boy. They didn’t own the home for long, because according to legend, a sister of the young mayor was allergic to the Oak pollen in all the trees surrounding Geneva Lake. How’s that for a story? That’s why, according to lawyer legend, the Daley’s ended up vacationing in the dunes area near Lake Michstake. No Oak trees = no Oak tree pollen = no sneezing sister. Then again, perhaps if she would have just sucked it up and the Daley family had remained in Country Club Estates they could have avoided that whole escaped inmate confrontation from earlier this year…
Back to the market. Country Club is a winner this year. Year to date we’ve had 10 sales in the association, which is the highest YTD volume since 2006, when we had 13 sales. The nice thing about Country Club right now for a buyer is that the prices have indeed softened, and there are some ripping good deals right now, including at least one property in foreclosure. With a location convenient to the Fontana lakefront and a rare sand beach with private pier and swimming area, this is indeed a great association. There are 29 active listings in Country Club right now, and that elevated inventory means two things for a buyer. First off, you obviously have numerous listings to look at, and ultimately your negotiating power is increased because of that inventory.
In a market where I doubt we’re going to see a volume recovery, Country Club is yet another shining example of an association going through its own recovery. I would expect to add a couple sales as we move throughout the fall, which should bring out 2009 total in line with our 2007 numbers, and that, to quote one of my least favorite food personalities, would be a good thing.