Real Estate Information Archive

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Here is a quick update on the Lake Geneva Real Estate market for the 3rd week of January 2011. It's still a little early to have a good feel for where the market is headed here into the new year. December of 2010 was busier than we would normally expect for that time of year and many of us are hopeful that January will end up being the same. Interest rates continue to be extremely attractive and near record lows, even though there has been a slight increase in rates the last few weeks. There are a number of exceptional values in all segments of our market including primary homes, rural and country homes and condominiums, both with and without lake access. There are also some great values in the second home market with lake access and lakefront homes on the various lakes in the area, including Lake Geneva, Delavan Lake, Lauderdale Lake, Whitewater Lake, Lake Beulah, Twin Lakes and Powers Lake. 

Contact me today at Bob@LakeGenevaLakefront.com if you'd like to be receiving information on some of these great values as well as being notified as any new listings come on the market or Click Here for a complete overview of information on the various lakes in the area.

I hope you are enjoying this wonderful weather we’ve been having so far this month.  I can’t say that we have seen a dramatic effect on the real estate activity here in Lake Geneva, but it sure can’t hurt and I have to believe that if not directly, at least indirectly it is just making people feel good to be able to enjoy sunshine and warm weather in the month of October. 

It was encouraging to see the stock market close over the 11,000 mark last Friday.  I think anything that helps people feel a little better and more positive about the economy in general will work to overcome the caution and conservative thinking that lots of people seem to have right now about making big ticket purchases like real estate, applicable to both the primary and second home markets. 

I’m afraid we’re in for a messy few weeks of political ads and mudslinging but hopefully we can come through the process and things will be a little clearer about deficits and possible tax increases that I think are also weighing on the minds of Buyers today, again if not directly, possibly indirectly in some cases. 

You’ve probably heard of talk over the last week about all the mortgage foreclosure problems and a possible moratorium on the ability of banks to proceed with foreclosures.  It’s hard to know what kind of positive or negative effect that could have on the real estate market over the next few weeks and months so we’ll just have to continue to follow that story, the link below will give you a short overview of the details. 

I attended a meeting last week regarding some rules changes from the Department of Natural Resources with regard to piers on lakes and waterways in the State of Wisconsin.  The information is a little confusing and there are going to be lots of questions about what a property owner should do.  My advice to waterfront property owners is to contact legal council to get advice on whether to register the pier at this time.  I attached a link below to an article that has some of the details of the rule changes. 

Mortgage interest rates have dropped again, 4.19% today on a 30 year fixed rate.  It certainly leads me to believe that potential Buyers in the market may very well come to the conclusion that the smart thing to do is buy today and lock in these very attractive rates, rather than roll the dice in hopes of rates going lower.  Between these low interest rates, the lowest in decades, and some great values in the market today, I’m hopeful we’ll see some business coming together over the coming weeks this Fall.

Home Foreclosures

New Pier Regulations

More Good News on Interest Rates

September is turning out to be a busier than normal month for me here in Lake Geneva at the mid way point, I’m hopeful it will continue over the next several weeks.  I like to say it is better to be productive rather than just busy, but most of my days are have more things TO Do than seem to get done.  I guess that’s just the nature of the real estate business and the need to be flexible and able to react when potential business presents itself. 

I’ve been having a lot of conversations with many of my Sellers about pricing recently and have been watching with interest the number of price reductions that are coming through the Multiple Listing Service on a daily basis.  I have to believe that these Sellers, taking a proactive approach toward trying to attract potential Buyers interest in their property, is the right and prudent approach today in dealing with all the caution and conservative thinking that seems to be plaguing Buyers today.  Attractive values and historically low interest rates will I believe eventually get some of these Buyers to take the plunge and get off the fence. 

I’m not sure what effect the current political climate is going to have on Buyers attitudes today.  Sometimes I feel that all the political wrangling, regardless of the facts of who’s right and who’s wrong, tends to dampen the spirits of even those of us who know that this is a good time to be in the market.  So I can only imagine how a Buyer might feel today when debating over a decision on a big ticket purchase like real estate, whether it’s a modest first time Buyer or a more elaborate second home purchaser. 

My crystal ball is rather cloudy on how this will all shake out come the end of the year when we look back at 2010 but I remain optimistic that the specifics of our real estate market, when compared to a lot of other markets across the country, will show that we have weathered the storm better. 

I ran across an interesting article this week from the Wall Street Journal that I thought you might find interesting called 10 Reasons to Buy a Home.  The best part of the article was the last few sentences.  And, finally, a lot of the "glut" simply won't matter: It's concentrated in a few areas, like Florida and Nevada. Unless you live there, the glut won't have any long-term impact on housing supply in your town.

Check out this article from CNNMoney.com that says pending home sales rose 8.2% in February, the single-biggest monthly rise since October 2001.  That sounds like good news to me.

Here's something you don't see everyday in Lake Geneva.  This home is located in Fontana overlooking the Abbey Harbor and was in the process of being torn down when I drove by it yesterday.  Because vacant real estate comes at such a premium in the Lake Geneva area, especially if it is on or near the lake with a view of the water, often homes with prime locations are torn down and rebuilt by the current owners or in some cases purchased for just the land and then rebuilt by the new owner.

The good news for today is the sun is shining in Lake Geneva and the Cubs are playing baseball on the radio this afternoon.  Even if you’re not a Cubs fan, that’s good news because it means that the worst of the winter is behind us and Spring can’t be too far away.  But it’s probably a little early for putting away the winter coats and boots just yet.  I’m guessing Mother Nature has a least one more sizeable snowfall for us before winter is officially done. 

As I’ve indicated the last few weeks, the signs of an increase in calls and inquires continues and I think we will see that resulting in more showings in the near future, but it hasn’t really happened as of yet.  Knowing that the average time between accepted offer and closing tends to run between 30 and 45 days, it is still too early to have any measureable signs of an increase in the actual closings YTD. 

I’m having lots of conversations with potential Buyers of various types of property and various price ranges in the Lake Geneva Real Estate market and there continues to be a concern by many about whether this is the right time to move forward with a purchase.  I even had a conversation with an appraiser yesterday who called me looking for some help with a refinance appraisal he was working on and he came right out and asked how we are able to come up with price recommendations these days with such mixed signals in the market and a lack of actual recent sales to go by.  It’s actually a good question. 

I had occasion to sit in on a speech this week given by an economist for Stewart Title whose credentials includes a PhD in finance with a minor in statistics and a master’s degree in land economics and real estate from Texas A&M University.  He had some very interesting things to say about the real estate market, not all of it positive and many comments about what’s going on in Washington these days with spending.  His outlook for the future of commercial real estate was extremely negative but he had a rather mixed message for residential real estate.  I don’t tend to put too much stock in prognosticators these days but his talk was filled with a lot of very specific charts and statistics.  His main point of focus was on the number of home sales as a leading indicator of the future and not on average sale prices, which is what much of the media tends to focus on.  His point being that with a high number short sales and bank owned property being sold, it is only natural that the averages will go down as those sale numbers are reported.  Getting that inventory sold and off the market is actually a good thing and it doesn’t necessarily mean that overall values are declining.  If you have any interest in viewing his Power Point presentation, drop me an Email message and I’ll be happy to pass it along.

The weatherman says we have a sizable snow storm headed our way in Lake Geneva over the next few days.  I’m not sure most adults are very excited about it but I’m sure many children are, with hopes of a snow day (or two) from school.  It will also presumably assure us of having a white Christmas so maybe in the big picture it won’t be such a bad thing. 

We are in the midst of what is traditionally a slower time for the real estate market with many prospective Buyers attention being diverted to the holidays.   It will be very interesting to see how things start out for the New Year and I know many real estate agents will be glad to tear off 2009 from the calendar and have high hopes and expectations for 2010.

I sense that some Buyers are beginning to come around to feeling as though the timing for making a purchase has improved but the fact is there is still a high level of concern and anxiety over jobs and the economic recovery.  I’m constantly hearing the term “these difficult times” that many advertisers and analysts are using these days and it has to have an effect on the way people think, even if things aren’t too bad for them.  Talk of a “W” recession that tries to make people believe that the current economic uptick is temporary and is going to be followed by another downturn is one of those self-fulfilling prophecies that I think we could all do just fine without.

I remain hopeful and optimistic about our real estate market and have every reason to believe that our area has the potential to outperform many of the other troubled markets and that we can be the exception to whatever negative outlooks and trends the “doom and gloomers” continue to talk about.