Welcome to September. For those of you without summer homes, the upcoming Labor Day Weekend will mark the unofficial end to the summer of 2009. Might I add that it was a miserable summer indeed according to my thermometer, and even Algore couldn’t will it to be warmer. So while the summer may be ending for those non lake lovers, those of us who love all things Lake Geneva know that today marks the beginning of the most beautiful 10 weeks the Midwest has to offer. September at the lake might as well be August without as many people, and by the time leaf crunching October rolls around, we still have 6 solid weeks of beautiful fall weather to enjoy. Our deciduous shoreline bursts into color, and you’ve never seen water so blue as you’ll see during a crisp October boat ride. All this to say nothing about the Orchards, and the most complete Orchard anywhere, ever- The Royal Oak Farm Orchard just outside of Walworth.
The fall real estate market here is always a great market. I argue that in the fall we seem to have more serious buyers, as opposed to plenty of tire kickers that kick their way through the summer. In the fall, kids head back to school, and many times, mom and dad find themselves with a little more free time to come up for a look around with who I hope will be me. We have plenty of lakefront and lake access inventory, and a nice positive sign for our market is the lack of new inventory hitting the market. There’s an old theory that more properties are listed towards the end of summer and fall, and that theory really isn’t correct. There were only 3 new lake access or lakefront listings during the entire month of August, which is great news. The lower the inventory, the easier our absorption of the existing inventory will be, and in time that cycle will even out and we’ll be left with more sales and fewer homes for sale which attribute to a more stable market.
In reviewing the sales statistics for the past 5 years, there is indeed a precipitous drop off from the summer sales to the fall sales, but not as much as one might think. Unlike many resort markets in the midwest, our market doesn’t shut down in the winter. Not sure what I mean? Take a trip to Door County in January and you’ll see what solitude is all about. Since 2005, we’ve averaged almost 25 sales of lake access and lakefront property on Geneva Lake during June, July, and August. Over that same period of time, September, October, and November have averaged only 15 sales each year. That’s a 39% drop in sales activity, and if that holds true for 2009, we certainly won’t see the volume recovery that I was hoping we’d see this year. With only 15 sales during June, July, and August of 2009, we need to see at least that many in the next 3 months to experience a recovery of any sort. There are 3 lake access and lakefront properties pending sale right now, so let’s hope that trend continues throughout the fall. I have a feeling it will.
So for now, for the fall, get up here and enjoy yourself. All those nay sayers who hate boat traffic on Geneva? Come up any weekend (except this weekend) and you’ll see how light the fall boat traffic really is. With apple and raspberry picking trips, sailboat racing championships, and the antique boat show all coming up over the next 5 weeks, there are plenty of reasons to make Lake Geneva your fall destination of choice.