Thursday, January 31, 2008

A Different Kind of January Market

I thought I would just give you a quick synopsis of what I have noticed in the waterfront market so far this year. Normally, I don't notice much of anything, because the buyers really aren't out looking at too many properties yet. But this year might be different.

Typically, we start getting our first buyer calls of the year for low-priced cabins and lots. I'm not sure why that is, but it seems to be the case almost every year. The closer we get to ice out, the price range seems to get a little bit higher, and then it begins to peak in early summer.

Now don't get me wrong; that doesn't mean that buyers will spend more for a particular property later in the the spring market, it just has to do - in general - with the price range of buyers that are actually purchasing. And, obviously, there are lake homes and cabins that sell in every price range throughout the year, so you certainly can't know exactly when the perfect buyer might come along for your property, no matter what price range it is in.

This year I am seeing a different type of buyer entering the market early. Instead of the calls for $100,000 cabins, we are seeing several sales at the $500,000 range already. And these aren't lake homes in the Twin Cities, they are cabins up north!

One thing that I have also noticed is that many of these properties have had some significant price reductions, so I think these buyers may have been sitting on the sidelines for some time just being patient. Whatever the reason, it is a good start to an early spring market...and overall that should be good for everyone.

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