Next week I’m going to do an in depth review of Abbey Springs, Geneva National, the lakefront condo market, and the secondary condo markets (Abbey Villas, Abbey Hill, Willabay, Bayside Point, etc). But today we’re going to look at the lake access and lakefront markets, because there are some interesting things occurring within these segments. I wrote earlier this week that each segment is active, which sounds like something easy to do and easier to write, but it’s not easy to do. Rarely do all pricing segments of one major market feature the same general mood. Rarely does a $200k cottage sell with the same frequency as a $4.5MM lakefront. But that’s what we have today, and it’s really quite amazing.
We know the entry level vacation home segment is super active with 10 out of the 28 homes priced under $500k currently showing as active with offer. What’s more interesting to me is that we have 22 homes available priced between $500k and $1MM and just three of those are pending sale. That’s not a terrible number, and that’s actually not what’s particularly unique. In this price range buyers will generally be able to find a transferable boatslip. Not always, but often. They’ll also typically be looking for a lake view, or proximity to the lake, or something unique about the house. What’s curious today is that of the three homes pending sale in this segment, just one of those homes has a slip. The other two do not, and both are priced in the $600s. Buyers buy for all sorts of reasons, so I would never seek to explain all purchase behavior, but if I’m a buyer in this segment I’m likely looking for a slip first, and every single other thing second. Buyers often think they won’t need a slip. Then, after the first weekend at the new lake house, they’re wondering where they’re going to moor the boat they’d like to buy.
The other range that continues to impress is the off-water lake access market over $1MM. This range was slow last year at this time, with ample inventory and few buyers. The market has absorbed much of that aged 2016 product. Today there are 10 off water homes priced between $1MM and $1.7MM. Of those, two are under contract. That might not seem like a lot, but it is. As the entry level lakefront inventory shrinks (just two lakefront homes priced under $1.5MM today), expect to see this market garner more and more attention. The idea here is simple. If a buyer can’t buy lakefront, they’ll look for the next best thing. And if lakefront is rare and pricy, often buyers will seek some sort of off-water property with a slip or a view or maybe both. These are not market mistakes, generally anyway, but they are market moves born not out of pure desire, but simply out of limited options. I’d like to take the pretty girl to the prom, but she’s already going with the quarterback, so I’ll take this other girl, who likes fidget spinners and eats erasers, but her hair is okay.
Lastly, the lakefront market itself. There are offers being flung around like so many pancakes at the fly-in-breakfast. The one out West of Walworth. These offers are generally coming together, but increasingly sellers are holding out for more money. Better terms. This might be a good idea or it might be a mistake, and I’m going to go with mistake. Some of the properties with offers are flawed- and the sellers used to understand those flaws. Now the sellers figure the market is in their favor, and their flaws are hidden by the hysteria of it all. They shouldn’t be this way. The market can turn as quickly as a 10 percent correction in the S&P, so sellers should remain confident but cautious. New pending sale mentions this week include the Congress Club listing in the $1.6s, the north shore Fontana lakefront in the low $2s, and the lakefront on South Lakeshore in Fontana in the mid $4s. These sales will all make sense once they close, so I see nothing particularly unique or exciting here. Rounding out the lakefront activity, my pending contract on the Folly Lane property listed in the high $7s.
Inventory remains the question for each segment. The MLS only shows 17 true lakefront homes available this morning. Of those, there are some nice properties, some rare properties, and some that represent solid value. The low inventory situation will likely persist this year, though I’d expect several new offerings to come to market over the next 30-45 days. As always, if you’d like to know about these new offerings before the rest of the market, just let me know. The lake today is buzzing with activity, and not just of the housing variety. Landscape crews are hustling to mulch beds and plant annuals. Pier guys are racing to install the last of the piers. Irrigation systems are being activated. It’s a frenzy, to be sure. But it’s our frenzy and I wouldn’t have it any other way.