If the darkest days for our Lake Geneva real estate market were found during the latter half of 2008 and nearly all of 2009, it must have been on one of those particularly dim days that I met with a buyer at Abbey Springs. This buyer had a tepid desire to have a vacation home in Abbey Springs. She wanted a place to meet with her children and entertain. She wanted a place that stood for relaxation, when her primary home barely tolerated it. She wanted a condo, and so it was, after several turns of unlocking and then locking doors at various units within Abbey Springs, we arrived at the doorstep of one particular townhome that I thought she’d like more than the others. I was hopeful she’d see herself in the screened porch during summer, talking and laughing with her children deep into the night. I was hoping she’d see a winter weekend spent in front of a roaring fire, with snow rendering the golf course view colorless, but beautiful.
I was hoping these things. As is turned out, the buyer did see herself doing these things in Abbey Springs. And for a brief moment in time, there appeared to be a fit. We left the association that day and though we talked more about Abbey Springs, that buyer never came back. The townhouse that seemed to fit didn’t sell back then, and today, it remains one of my very favorite offerings inside that development. The price has dropped considerably. Yet the porch is still there and the fire still needs to be stoked. This unit, like a lot of units at Abbey Springs, hasn’t cared much that the overall Abbey Springs market appears to be quite healthy, robust even. As with the all markets, the rising tide of increased buyer activity has done little to raise all ships.
Abbey Springs has, of late, been building a bit more inventory. There are now 27 units and single family homes available, with perhaps three units pending sale (per MLS). I use the word “units” liberally, as two of the three pending properties are single family homes. The three pending properties are priced under $500k, as is most of the inventory in Abbey Springs at any given time. There seem to be strong amounts of buyers in the low $300ks, but that may be more of a seem thing than a reality thing. There has been one closing in the last few weeks- a Carefree unit sold for $320k.
The four year to date sales plus the three pending sales should give Abbey Springs seven YTD sales before Memorial Day weekend, assuming the three pending contracts are held by buyers who value that weekend as much as I do. If they don’t, shame on them. 2010 was a nice year for Abbey Springs, with strong volume, strong pricing, and generally steady activity. If we look to 2010 for some guidance in 2011, the fact that there were exactly 7 sales before June 1 of last year bodes well for the remainder of 2011. Abbey Springs might lack the sex appeal of other individual markets, but it certainly doesn’t want for consistency. Abbey Springs is the Cal Ripken of the Lake Geneva real estate market. And by that I draw reference to Cal’s starts streak, but more importantly to the fact that Cal never wrote that nasty thing on the but of his bat and let Fleer photograph him holding it. Abbey Springs, like Cal, didn’t screw up when the spot light was on him. If you’re wondering, or assuming, there is a good chance that Geneva National is to Abbey Springs what Billy was to Cal. My apologies to all of you who did not frequent the Delavan K-Mart in 1989 in a desperate attempt to find a Fleer pack that had that error card in it. I never found it, but I don’t really want to talk about it.
The probable outcome of an active spring at Abbey Springs is an active summer. Abbey Springs looks okay in the spring. But much in the way that any resort or property can only look marginally okay during a Midwestern spring that has played out more like April in Churchill, Manitoba. If Abbey Springs holds its own during spring, it’ll shine in summer. Abbey Springs is a resort built for summer, engineered as if specifically for 82 degree July weekends. Buyers will notice throughout the summer, and Abbey Springs will not disappoint. It’s important to note that Abbey Springs will more than likely have another solid summer even though most prices have only dropped 10-15%. Compared to the rest of the market where prices are almost uniformly off 20-30%, Abbey Springs has been downright resilient.
The lonely condo that my lonely client from a few years back passed up is still for sale (not my listing). It still has a perfect porch for summer nights, and a fireplace for winter afternoons. The price has also dropped 20% or so, making it one of the better values in Abbey Springs. Memorial Day weekend begins three weeks from tomorrow, and if you get off your couch this weekend, I can get you into that porch before summer even begins.