Articles & News

Market Stays Strong and Attractive


Published: 02.27.2020

Market Report

The first month of real estate sales for 2020 is in the books, and things look good for Lake Martin property owners. Values have been increasing for some time now, and market conditions continue to support recent increases in values.

Each month, we look at a 12-month rolling average of key metrics for Lake Martin waterfront real estate sales activity as reported to the Lake Martin Area Association of Realtors MLS. For this report, we are looking at the 12-month period that ended on January 31, 2020 and comparing it to the same period ending on January 31, 2019.

Volume and Transactions Increase

The summary of sales volume and the number of transactions is very impressive. Gross dollar volume for all residential sales has increased 20.8% over the previous year to $214,685,986. The number of transactions increased 22.7% to 362.

To gain perspective on last year’s level of business, we looked at the 12-month period ending in January of 2018. That was the best 12-month period for sales since the financial crisis of 2008. The total number of transactions in the most recent 12-month period was exactly one sale higher this period than the “great year” in 2018. While one sale is a slim margin, the dollar volume was not; this year’s volume is 8.83% higher than the banner 2018 period.

Property values increase—inventory decreases

We have had several back-to-back years of property value increases. This past year is no exception. The most recent results indicate a similar trend. The median price for residential property on Lake Martin increased $29,500 or 6% over the previous year. Over the last two years, the median price has increased $84,500 or 19.43%.

While the trajectory of the climb has leveled off a bit, we believe the uphill trend is likely to continue. This is because supply is significantly lower. Current residential inventory is 16.23% lower than at this same time last year. Lower supply with higher demand usually puts increased pressure on prices.

Some property types and price points will be under more pressure than others. Condos, for example, have a higher list-price-to-sales-price ratio (96%) than all other property types. Inventory is also the lowest with only a 3.69-month supply.

The $500,000 to $750,000 price range is the most sought-after price range, for residential property, in the market. Over the last 12 months, this segment had a 58.57% increase in the number of sales and a 65.31% increase in the volume of sales. Inventory is lower in this category compared to last year as well.

What to watch for

Like the old potato chip ad says, “eat all you want, we will make more,” developers and builders are working hard to create new ownership opportunities. Russell Lands is releasing new collections of waterfront lots in The Ridge and in The Willows this year to meet the demand for attractive building sites.

Builders are working hard to bring newly built homes to the market. The Cascadia, The Double Rock and The Diamond View are newly finished examples of attractive lake homes in The Ridge and in The Willows. The Double Rock, in The Ridge, will be open for viewing this Saturday, February 29, 11am-3pm.

New lakefront communities, such as White Oak Landing, located just off U.S. Hwy. 280 and Hideaway Cove in Stillwaters are providing attractive new lake front homes.

Over the past several weeks, we have seen a great deal of interest in newly listed properties. In many cases, properties have sold the first day on the market, in some cases, even before the properties were placed in MLS.

We recommend that anyone interested in a lake home reach out to one of our agents. They would be happy to keep you informed on the newest listings or property releases. Meet our agents >

Overall, we think that the Lake Martin real estate market is very healthy. While it would be nice to have more property for sale, we believe it is a good sign that people love their lake homes too much to part with them!

See you at the lake soon!

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