Geneva Lakefront Update

My son Thomas is suffering from an unfortunate episode of poison ivy poisoning. Seems strange and perhaps incorrect to write it that way, but he’s not suffering from the poison ivy itself, rather he’s suffering from the poisoning of the ivy. It’s complicated. And there’s a lot of cream involved, and many tearful nights. Tonight is one such night, and his crying combined with the restless nature of the birds living less than one inch from where I lay my head at night (long story) has positioned me squarely over this keyboard, writing a market update at 12:17 in the AM.

Thomas has had poison ivy for about a week now, and I have been quite concerned that it will spread to me and overtake my entire body in one blistering, merciless rash. My wife washed my pillow case with his the other day, and that was the last washing that my pillow case would ever experience because I immediately threw it away. I’ve been told that poison ivy poisoning isn’t contagious (again, the ivy itself can’t be contagious, it’s the poison that might be) but I don’t believe it. But tonight, even if poison isn’t contagious, buyer fever at Lake Geneva most certainly is.

Over the past two weeks, there has been a rash of buyer activity- the likes of which we haven’t seen at the lake in several years. Three lakefront properties on Geneva have gone under contract, and all properties reside in the upper reaches of our market. The most economical to receive an acceptable offer is priced at $2.795MM (near Fontana), the next at $3.84MM, and the most expensive weighing in at an even $5.75MM. The properties are all fabulous in their own way, with the North Shore lakefront listed at $5.75MM being my obvious favorite.

In addition to the lakefront contracts, I received an offer on my new lakefront condo listing just today, and am also in the process of negotiating another lakefront deal. There is life in the market right now, and I’m so delighted by it that I hardly know what to do with myself. Thomas also hardly knows what to do with himself right now, but my dilemma is far less itchy.

So why has the market suddenly found momentum when there previously was very little? I personally believe that much of the activity right now is a result of pent up interest finally making its way to the surface. Many buyers have been actively looking with varying degrees of motivation for several years, and prices have finally softened enough to make the purchase more acceptable. Remember when I kept talking about how badly the market needed new inventory to excite existing buyers? It turns out that I was right (go figure), as two of the three pending sales involve properties that were just recently listed. Buyers in this market largely know what they’re looking for, and when they find it there is very little standing between them and their new found Lake Geneva lakefront home.

I’m not sure if you noticed, but the weather this weekend was nothing short of spectacular. If you didn’t spend this weekend in Lake Geneva, you’ll just have to take my word for it when I tell you that the weather in Lake Geneva was better than the weather that you experienced- wherever you were. If it was warm where you were, it was warmer here. If it was sunny where you were, it was sunnier here. The water is warming nicely as well- so much so that my poison ivied son and poison ivy-free daughter both swam their little hearts out on Sunday. I only watched, but a deft maneuver that transferred my sunglasses from the top of my head to the bottom of the lake will encourage an early season swim sooner rather than later.

Just in the way that I’m not naive enough to believe Tim Allen when he tells me what Michigan is like, I’m also not naive enough to believe that this flurry of activity is a widespread trend. The market will ebb and flow, and I expect 2010 to still be a bit of a rough ride. However, in a low volume market like Geneva, every sale is a big deal, and three sales make for an even bigger deal. Speaking of big- a big fat congratulations to the three lucky buyers who have taken the first step towards securing their very own Lake Geneva vacation homes, and a big fat “hurry on up” to those of you still waiting for yours. See you at the lake. Speaking of, here’s what the lake looked like this morning at about 10 am. I had to take the boat out to “test the engine”.