The end of each year brings lists to newspapers, magazines and news programs on television such as the top movies of the year or the most used names for newborn babies. Each year I am guilty of looking back at the year in real estate as well as it is an easy blog topic. It is also interesting and helpful information to anyone that owns a lake home or lake lot in the Alexandria Area or is considering a purchase in 2016.
In November of 2014 I wrote about lake lot sales for the year and forecast that in Alexandria’s real estate market lake homes sales and lake lots sales would rise in 2015 and also passed my opinion on to anyone that would listen. 2015 turned into a seller’s market faster than I anticipated and I think 2016 is going to be an even better year for sellers of lake properties. At this time of year the lakefront inventory is tight but it was also pretty tight this past fall. I think there are going to be opportunities early this year when new listings start to appear as I think the demand post-Memorial Day will exceed 2015’s demand. This doesn’t mean I don’t think demand leading up to Memorial Weekend won’t be strong. It will. But I think new lake home list prices will be using 2015 comparable properties to set a price and while lake home sales were strong in 2015, I feel prices were realistic. Sales early in spring are affected by weather and schedules. People looking to buy a lake home tend to have busy lifestyles as do their kids so spring time visits to view properties can be challenge. So, the moral of the story is be opportunistic and move fast if a new listing piques your interest. Always feel free to contact me for my opinion or if you’d like me to send you some video to show you the neighborhood or more.
The high sale in 2015 was $1,289,000 for a 5 bedroom, 5 bathroom Lake Le Homme Dieu property on Government Point. The lowest sale price was $52,000 for a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom home at Flekkefjord Lake. It is a 345 acre lake near Elbow Lake with a maximum depth of 5 feet and 2 feet of water clarity.
