We needn’t look too far back to understand what happened here, assuming we’re the smart ones who know that what happened then is quite important when trying to figure out what’s happening now. Eastbank Condominiums are not a well known group of condominiums. While their location is front and center- directly on South Lakeshore Drive just south of downtown Lake Geneva- the gates and the trees and the nice fence help temper the obvious. The condominiums are not old, but they are far from new. There are only eight units in all of Eastbank, but that exclusivity wrongly suggests rarity. There have been sales at Eastbank, plenty of them, and the sales from 2002 through yesterday tell a story that the rest of the lakefront condo market would rather not hear.
Wednesday, I finally sold my unit on Seaver Lane, within Eastbank, for $675k. The price, at first blush, is low. It was a great price for the buyer, indeed, but it wasn’t terribly far from the actual market value of that unit. As with many small associations, timing matters. Two years ago, an Eastbank unit came to market at $895k. That unit was right next door to the unit that I just sold, so the views were similar and both units boasted a two car attached garage, a nice boatslip, and four bedrooms spread out over two floors of finished living space. Around that same time, another owner in Eastbank approached me about selling. I told them that their best tactic would be to undercut the $895k unit, in hopes of capturing the first buyer that finds their way through that Eastbank gate. They declined my advice, and listed in the low $900k’s, just above the other unit because, after all, their unit was better.
Before they made the decision to list at a higher price with another agent, I implored them to consider the likely scenario. I told them that the other unit was being sold to settle an estate, and as such it would sell somewhat low when compared to that lofty asking price. I told them that once it sold low, they’d be forced to sell lower still. I told them that it would be best to get out in front of that other sale and set the market so that they wouldn’t be in the unfortunate position of having to match the market. I told them what I thought, and that was that.
Shortly after, I brought a buyer to Eastbank. It was spring of 2012. The buyer looked at the two units, both priced around $900k, and opted to bid on the lesser priced unit. We bid low, they countered. We bid low again. They accepted. In May of 2012, a buyer whom I represented paid $750k for a great unit at Eastbank. The other unit was still for sale, still with another broker, and it was now forced to accept the reality of a $750k comp despite the fact that its asking price stayed around $900k. The dubious scenario that I had laid before them was coming true.
In the spring of 2013, I was contacted by the owner of the remaining unit, and we listed it for sale at $835k. The price was better, closer to where it now needed to be, but still not especially dazzling. I tried to sell the unit throughout 2013 but to no avail. After a series of price tweaks, we succumbed to $775k last fall, and by December I had one fantastic client expressing interest. That client closed on their new Eastbank condo this week for $675k, a price that was, out of necessity, lower than the sale that I had there in the spring of 2012. The marketing had played out exactly as I thought it might, and the buyer was the ultimate winner in that scenario.
In 2004, a similar unit at Eastbank sold for $965k. Then, in May of 2006, that same unit sold for $1.275MM. A few months later, in August of 2006, another unit sold for $1.385MM. Eastbank was undeniably hot, and then it went a few years without inventory. The market shift of 2009 didn’t affect Eastbank immediately, as there was no inventory and without inventory there can be no sales and no lower print prices. Then came 2012, and with it the story that I just told you, and prices that were recently as much as 50% off those prior market highs. Eastbank adjusted to the times, the two available properties sold, and now Eastbank is once again left without any inventory. The stage is now set for a rapid price recovery here, as the 2012 sold unit was beautifully improved by my buyer, and the fresh sale promises to be renovated as well.
Eastbank took its medicine, pushed the two available units off of the market and into strong hands, and is now primed to see better days. There is nothing quiet like Eastbank on the entire lake, as the units are large, the slips canopied, the garages large and attached. These are more homes than condominiums, and the next time an improved unit hits the market we won’t expect it to last too long. Will it ever be as hot as it was in 2006? Hard to say, but for today it’s safe to say at least one couple is on the verge of a totally different sort of summer.