The lakefront condo market on Geneva isn’t the most robust individual market in our broader vacation home market. That’s the way someone who likes to write words tells someone else that the market stinks. As of this morning, there are 18 (always give or take with these numbers) lakefront condominiums on the market per our MLS. Actually, there are 21 available, now that I searched the proper lake name “Geneva” and the wrong lake name “Lake Geneva”. Agents will commonly replace the body of water with the city, a mistake so unforgivable in my book that I’m struggling to keep my focus even now. The inventory is dispersed quite nicely around the lake, and as of right now, there appears to be a more diverse mix of condominiums available than at any other time I can remember. Buildings with historically low inventory and sales totals, like Bay Colony, have opportunities on the market right now. Buildings that have historically high inventory and sales levels, like Vista Del Lago, also have plenty of active inventory. Unlike the single family lakefront market, the problem with the lakefront condo market isn’t the inventory. It’s the lack of buyers.
The most economical unit on the water is still my two bedroom at Bay Shore in Williams Bay. The most expensive is a unit at Somerset in Lake Geneva (Boatslip, huge views, garage). Harbor Watch downtown Lake Geneva is struggling mightily, with three of the four units in the building on the open market now. Watch to see what happens there. Ultimately, someone is going to want to get out. They’ll cut their price significantly and attract a buyer, and the remaining units will suffer once that new, lower, sold statistic hits the market. Geneva Towers has several units for sale, but I’ve never cared for that building much. I feel like it should be in Fort Lauderdale or something, and I should only show it when wearing white billowy pants, a white blazer, and pink collared shirt. As it turns out, I own the pink shirt, but not the necessary white items of clothing, which means I rarely show in the building.
Units are also available in Bay Colony ($649k with slip), The Fontana Club (double unit with views for miles), Vista Del Lago (starting at $595k), The Old Boatyard ($699k), and Fontana Shores. Even with this impressive array of inventory, not a single lakefront condominium has sold in 2010. Ouch. I believe the last lakefront condo sale was the Fontana Shores three bedroom unit I sold last October for $455k. I wrote at the time that many of the lakefront condo buyers are in the mid $400k price range, even though most of the active inventory is priced in excess of $600k. Even if pricing was the problem, that doesn’t explain the existence of two Bay Shore condominiums priced in the mid $400k’s that aren’t selling. If buyers were active but had established price ceilings, those “cheaper” condo’s should be getting loads of play, but they’re not.
The lakefront condo market has stalled, and I think it has as much to do with pricing as it does the shift in buyer preference toward single family homes. This shift can be overcome by attractive pricing, but with almost four months crossed off of 2010 with giant red X’s, none of the lakefront inventory has obviously been reduced to the point where buyers have taken notice. It’s going to be a very interesting summer for the lakefront condo, and the only way I see a rash of lakefront condo sales is in the event that prices soften further, or buyers really identify what they want and realize that this summer is way too precious to waste in the suburbs. Then again, maybe Daniel Gross could give you the number for his trampoline guy and you could indulge in the lights out fun that is a trampoline! That was a sarcastic exclamation point, in case my new readers really did think I was excited about a suburban trampoline.
I’m hoping to bring a new lakefront condo to the market in the next couple weeks, and I know that the unit will sell. How do I know that? Because I’m going to price it in line with where the market is, not where I’d like it to be. If more sellers approach their prices in such a manner, buyers will notice. It’s not that the lakefront condo is dead, it just needs a little boost. Unfortunately, the sort of boost that condo buyers are seeking at Lake Geneva comes in monetary form.
PS. Dear toothless Powerball winner. Please email me regarding Lake Geneva real estate ASAP. Thanks, David
PSS. Memorial Day weekend starts a mere five weeks from today.