This time of year is pretty interesting when it comes to the commitment levels of vacation home buyers. It’s easy in September to take the view that summer is over. That school starts now and with it comes the cold and the drizzle and the Thanksgiving feasts and the Bowl Games. It’s all over, that summery thing that we wanted to enjoy but likely didn’t. And so buyers have a tendency to pull back during September as they set their sights towards their next goal: Next Summer. Next Summer is much like Next Year in a Cubs baseball context. There’s always next year. But when the Wild Card exists and there are still many games left, shouldn’t we think more about this year instead of settling in and hoping for next year? Fall at the lake is perhaps the best time of year here, and you could do winter any number of ways, but wouldn’t it be fun to enjoy the lake during the quiet season? I say tomorrow isn’t promised to any one of us so let’s stop thinking so much about next year and let’s stay focused. Cubs, it’s time to keep winning. Buyers? It’s time to stay engaged.
I closed last week my three bedroom condo unit at Bay Colony South for $1.4M. What a great three bedroom unit that is, and what a wonderful job my sellers did renovating that space. The new buyer gets to now enjoy the best two months of the year from the very front row, and I have no doubt that they’re going to love their new perch. The lakefront condo market has had a meaningful run of late, with several sales north of $1.2M in our typical condo buildings of Vista Del Lago and Geneva Towers and now Bay Colony South. It makes good sense, too, because the lakefront condo market functions based on the pricing of the single family lakefront market and if the lowest priced true lakefront today is $5.19M, then shouldn’t a lakefront condo with slip at $1.4M capture the attention of more than a few buyers?
The lakefront condo market remains solid with exceptionally constricted inventory and most lakefront condo buildings offering not a single unit for sale. Many of the would be lakefront condo buyers are faced with a difficult decision relative to new construction available off water, but if I’m a buyer of a condo in this area I’m likely keeping my focus on finding a seat in the front row. The lakefront buildings don’t have the sex appeal of some new construction off-water, but those views, man. Those views.