This new construction 6 bedroom, 4.5 bath home shares in the use of the 7 acre association park with over 340' of lake frontage on Lake Geneva. It has beautiful lake views and a transferable deep water boat slip. Quality finishes thru out the three finished levels including Birch hardwood floors, custom cabinets, granite counters, Italian porcelain tile and Pella windows, all located just a few steps from the water. Congress Club is a charming 10 member association with very low affordable association fees.

Exclusive 700 Club on Lake Geneva is the location of this completely updated 4 bedroom, 3 bath home being offer fully furnished and ready to move into. The beautiful tree lined entrance opens to the fabulous lakeviews of the 700 Club Assoc. Park. 125' of ideal level frontage located just steps from the expansive deck and entertainment area. The great room offers cathedral ceilings and skylights with an amazing kitchen highlighted with Cherry cabinets and granite counters. Immaculate home inside and out.

Fabulous 4 bedroom, 4 bath lakefront condominium at historical Stone Manor on Lake Geneva. Completely renovated inside with beautiful new kitchen and baths, painstaking attention to details in keeping with the charm and character of this historic building. Outstanding views of the lake and immaculate grounds. Two fireplaces, transferable boat slip, 2 garage spaces and association tennis court. Incredible views of Lake Geneva from the rooftop pool and sun deck. Your chance to own a piece of history.

Beautifully updated 5 bedroom, 3 bath home with level frontage in Williams bay. Loaded with charm and character yet all up to date with modern kitchen and baths. Marble counters, Viking range, Subzero refrigerator kitchen with Wentworth custom cabinets, two gas fireplaces, wood floors, imported tile floors and custom molding, arched solid Oak doors and all new Marvin windows. Radiant heated floors in lower level. The home has outstanding views of the lake, large covered slip on pier. Move in condition.

Own a piece of the prestigious 700 Club, located on the southern shores of Geneva Lake. Level frontage with 2 lakeside patios, four bedrooms, first floor den/office, 5 full baths, eat-in lakeside kitchen, greatroom with fireplace, formal living and dining rooms and separate lakeside recreation room with kitchenette and fireplace. By appointment.

This Abbey Dockominium boat slip is located in the Abbey Harbor adjacent to the Abbey Resort in Fontana. This is the smaller size slip known as a ''C'' in a location convenient to parking and the Harbor house. Full use of the Harbor House restrooms with showers and a delightful outdoor pool. This affordable boat slip could be an ideal way for a Fontana property owner to keep a boat closeby.

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.

Value priced Abbey Harbor dockominium boat slip located at the Abbey in Fontana. This is the largest of the slips available 14' X 44' and is located conveniently on the east wall of the harbor just steps away from parking. Enjoy the use of the Abbey Harbor facilities and outdoor pool. Here is an affordable way to enjoy boating and lake living on Lake Geneva. This is a great price for a slip this size.

This 2 bedroom penthouse unit is located on the 5th floor at Fontana Shores with outstanding lake views and a balcony to enjoy full length views down the Lake. The unit has been partially remodeled. The bedrooms and baths essentially intact with the front half of the unit facing the lake having had all of the walls removed and completely open. A new kitchen has been set in place with impressive Cherry cabinets & Cherry built-ins at both ends of the unit covering the entire wall, also panels for wood ceiling.

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.

This beautiful Lake Geneva lakefront building site is just over 3.5 acres in size with approximately 160' of ideal level lakefrontage. The site is in the area known as Alta Vista on the north shore of the lake off Snake Road. It has numerous stately mature trees and would make for an ideal building site.

We would “normally” expect the next month or so to be relatively quiet with many prospective Buyers attention being diverted because of the Holidays.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving and for enjoying family and friends.

Usatoday.com Existing Home Sales October 2009

Realtytimes.com Real Estate Outlook          

A couple of interesting articles are linked below.  The first indicates that in a poll taken by Home.com, 5% of the respondents indicated they plan to make a real estate purchase this coming year, a possible indication that the perception is that prices have bottomed out and will be on the rise again in the future.

The second article discusses the extension of the $8,000 tax credit that was due to expire on November 30^th and details of the expansion of the program.

5% of Americans plan to buy a home next year

Tax Credit Program extended and Expanded

Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – jumped 9.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million units in September from a level of 5.09 million in August, and are 9.2 percent higher than the 5.10 million-unit pace in September 2008. Sales activity is at the highest level in over two years, since it hit 5.73 million in July 2007.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said favorable conditions matched with a tax credit are boosting home sales. “Much of the momentum is from people responding to the first-time buyer tax credit, which is freeing many sellers to make a trade and buy another home,” he said. “We are hopeful the tax credit will be extended and possibly expanded to more buyers, at least through the middle of next year, because the rising sales momentum needs to continue for a few additional quarters until we reach a point of a self-sustaining recovery.”

Existing-home sales in the Midwest jumped 9.6 percent in September to a pace of 1.25 million and are 7.8 percent above a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $147,600, which is 1.0 percent below September 2008.

Contact Bob Webster of Keefe Real Estate with any questions or for further informtion on the lakefront market in the Greater Geneva Lakes Area including Lake Geneva, Delavan Lake, Lauderdale Lake, Whitewater Lake, Lake Beulah, Powers Lake and Twin Lakes.

This year has presented us with some of the most difficult times in terms of trying to accurately get a handle on what’s happening in the real estate market and what direction the various parts of the market are headed.  We’ve had some exceptionally nice weather since Labor Day, probably more nice days than we did in the “summer” and there seems to be somewhat of an effect on certain parts of the real estate market.  The $8,000 First Time Buyer Tax Credit being offered by Uncle Sam has had a positive effect on the lower end entry level priced homes in many parts of the country.  That program has an expiration date, similar to the way the Cash for Clunkers program worked, coming up at the end of November with some Buyers now scrambling to get to closing.  In some areas of the country it has definitely worked and been responsible for an increase in Buyer activity and the sales numbers being reported.  The second home market in Lake Geneva continues to be soft, despite many Sellers adjusting asking prices down to the point where there are some very attractive values available to Buyers willing to ignore all the doom and gloom talk and step up and take action now. 

It just seems that many folks are being extremely cautious right now about making financial decisions and many are just not comfortable taking on additional debt in what the media seems to enjoy referring to as these “troubled economic times”.  I really dislike that term, because I think if people hear it enough over and over, it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Despite this, I remain hopeful that some of the signs of increased levels of activity we have begun to see recently will continue and that the market will respond in a positive way to what I believe is a great time to be in the market for the long term.

 
I’m not giving up on 2009 as the Fall season can be a beautiful time in Lake Geneva with lots of visitors to the area.  I’m determined to make the most of the next couple of months to see if we can get some additional business done and end the year on a more positive note.