I went out on my new (very used) fishing boat a week ago Sunday. It was 80 and sunny. I was sweating. I went out on my new (used) fishing boat last Saturday afternoon and my body grew so cold that my organs began shutting down. Today, I woke up to snow. All that to say this: Winter, snow, and any physical reminder of our lingering winter, please die. I hate you. Now onto the post.
After a proper gestation period, some of the spring deals that were written weeks or months ago have started to close. The sales are good for our market, big surprise, but they’re better for existing inventory than most think. If a street has three “for sale” signs on it (excluding FSBO signs, as those don’t count towards anything but increased revenue for Home Depot due to the sign purchase) and two of those properties sell, even if they sell low, the sales help the last remaining listing. Competition is obviously bad for real estate, so less inventory is better in the eyes of the market. Ah, but the market is comprised of buyers, and is less inventory really good for buyers? Yes. Excessive inventory cripples buyers, whereas moderate inventory provides options without overwhelming the viewer.
Last week, two entry level lake access homes closed. One of those homes was in Williams Bay’s Summer Haven, a street where I currently have a listing that has no reason not selling ($399k, lake view, newer construction). The home that sold was listed for $324,900 and sold for $285k. The price paid was solid, and about on par with our market for a lake access home with average proximity to the water and dated finishes. The home also had a most dubious ownership history, and a dubious lawn care history as well- I used to mow the lawn there when I was a kid. But that was many years ago, and now the sale is complete (possibly forced by Feds…), the slate is wiped clean and the home should be a great vacation home for the new owner.
The other sale was of a cottage in Upper Brookwood, a nice little association on the edge of Fontana. The home was originally listed at $349k and sold for $304,500. Both this sale and the Summer Haven sale were interesting in that the list prices that garnered the sale were both original- neither property had been reduced in an attempt to better attract a buyer. Both properties were with lakerights, but didn’t sport views, slips, or any other remarkable attribute. Perhaps the listing for $299k in Oakwood Estates (with possibly buoy open right away) should have been in play for both of these buyers, but sadly, crushingly, it was not.
The snow on the ground this morning is nothing out of the ordinary for our utterly disappointing, miserable spring. There has been nothing redeeming about this spring, and I will applaud loudly when it is over. The cold, wet spring has put a frosty damper on our spring market at the lake as well, as buyers pretend to see through weather and look solely at the facts of real estate, but in the highly emotional game of vacation home hunting, there are triggers that ignite motivation, with warm spring weather being one of them. A summer’s early sway (thanks Decemberists) would provide a pleasant push to our market, and would do more to increase motivation than the giant black Xs that have crossed off every useless day until today. And including today, given the snow and all.
There are 36 homes with lake access to Geneva available today with list prices less than $400k. In this same segment there are at least five properties pending sale, which means this market is bustling in a way that renders the broader market overflowing with envy. Ignoring the snow, just thirty-nine days will be crossed off before we arrive at that happy Friday in May, when we finally punch a winter that keeps tapping our shoulder asking for more attention right in the face.