And so it goes, a sale here and another there, a trickle of activity swells to a raging river and back to a trickle within weeks, or days, and the end result is the broken rhythm of a curious market that thrives and stalls within the span of a week. Lake Geneva is having a very good week. The wonder of a small market is that it takes very few buyers to make it move, forward in volume if down in price, or up in price and stagnant by volume. The vacation home market at Lake Geneva, sans Abbey Springs and Geneva National, needs a mere seventy or so buyers annually to make it move. Seventy buyers in the city of Chicago is nothing but a blip of activity in an otherwise mundane, short-sale-filled week, but here, seventy buyers spread out over 365 days is enough to make me declare our market healthy, even if certain market segments remain unfortunately unaffected. What a pleasure it is for me to work in a market where such small numbers of buyers can create such a large impact. This week, a few more of those magical seventy showed up, and this week, as a delicious result, the market continues to move.
Yesterday, the lakefront spec home on Circle Parkway in Williams Bay closed for $1.761MM. While the frontage was elevated, and the new buyer would be smart to write, in permanent marker above the door to the lake “KIDS GO POTTY”, and just under it, “DON’T FORGET SUNGLASSES”, it was a great new house even if the lofted elevation is better for sailboat race viewing than traipsing to and from the lake. The home would have easily sold for $2.3MM or more at the peak of our market, representing my target 25% or so decline that I expect everything to sell for these days. There are better lakefront values out there, but most are predicated on my belief that ultimate sales prices have very little to do with asking prices. If you’re working with a version of Sandra Rinomato who views list price as a thoughtful constant that must be treated with care and respected, please email me soon so I can save you from your inevitable, expensive, and unnecessary fate.
My lake view cottage in the Harvard Club ($449k) went under contract this week, and if we’re able to see this through to closing, it’ll be a sad day for the many buyers who passed over this rare offering. Thankfully, there is another Harvard Club cottage still available, and the available one ($569k) is large, classic, and boasts a slip and garage. It is lake cottage bliss, if only I (or you) knew someone who is willing and able to be the next custodian of this century old lake home. A large lakefront on the South Shore of Fontana went under contract this week. With a list price of $2.9MM, it was one of my favorite offerings for quite a while. It’s a location that can support future value in the $6MM range, making it a fine buy for someone with grandiose future plans, and even better for someone who prefers to use the large lakefront cottage as it has been used by previous owners. I expect this deal to close in the $2.5MM range, any more and I don’t love the sale, any less and I’m going to congratulate the buyer personally. Sadly, shamefully, regrettably, I am not representing either buyer or seller in this deal. //head hangs low, tears fill eyes…
The lakefront at 190 Circle Parkway that had sold last year is under contract again, this time to a buyer who I do represent. This property, when it ultimately closes, will make for a great post, as the sales cycle represents the sort of value that is available today relative to the peak of our market. This sale will also prove that the sometimes dangerous cycle of boom and bust is actually a great thing for those who are fortunate enough to either sell during the boom or buy during the bust. It’s a capitalist cycle that has been vilified by the current administration, but it’s the lifeblood of an evolving market, and these undulations are necessary to create opportunity for a new crop of buyers who have been energized by the downturn.
The lakefront condo market remains alone, sad, watching the fun of a fluid market from the darkest corner of an already dimly lit room. I don’t see much activity in this market now, though there is at least one offer circulating on a lakefront unit. I have two of the finer, larger lakefront condominiums available on the lake today, one at Somerset and the other at Fontana Shores. The Fontana Shores unit offers a buyer the ability to have a lavish lakefront spread for a fraction of the cost of private frontage, all within viewing and thus walking distance of Gordy’s and the fun Fontana lakefront.
There are other properties pending of late as well, including the Congress Club offering listed at $1MM, a parkway home in Cedar Point for $699k, and a humble ranch in Shore Haven with slip for $499k. These properties make sense to me, and I understand why buyers would be buying them. All are off at least 25% from the market highs, and as such, I approve of their purchase. I’m aware no one asked me to approve, and that this giant red stamp I have with APPROVE written on the bottom is a bit self absorbed. No matter, I prefer to use the DISAPPROVE one anyway. There are 145 lake homes with either lakefront or lake access to Geneva right now, and certainly one of them has to catch your eye. See you at the lake.
Photograph by Michael Moore Photography.