Real Estate Market Report

Waterfront lot sales are heating up

For the past year, we have noted that lower residential inventory levels have been a drag on overall residential waterfront sales. Fewer opportunities have led to fewer sales, increased prices, reduced sales time, and multiple offers on available properties.

Because of the market challenges, potential property owners have two choices—wait for something new to come to the market (and if you love the lake, that is hard to do), or pick a lot and build a custom lake home.

As the most recent MLS sales data indicates, the latter is becoming the go-to choice. Over the last year, 68 waterfront lots have sold, which is an increase of 25.9% over the same period last year. (For this report, we looked at sales from May 1, 2018, through April 30, 2019, and the same period ending April 30, 2018.)

Even more impressive than the increased unit growth was that the total dollar volume increased 88.7% year over year. That increase, as you might have guessed, was driven by an increase of 49.9% in the average price for a waterfront lot. Currently, the average price for a waterfront lot is $338,000 on Lake Martin.

While there are some builder purchases for speculative construction in the overall sales volume, the vast majority of the sales were for custom construction of lake homes. In fact, our builders report that they have so much custom work in the queue, they cannot get to speculative construction.

Amenities make a difference in sales price

We have found that amenities make a big difference in lot value. Waterfront lots in Russell Lands’ neighborhoods average $431,586, while the average price outside of our neighborhoods is $238,742.

The total sales volume of waterfront lots for the past year was $22,984,016, and 65.72% of that volume was in Russell Lands’ neighborhoods, with 29.76% of the market total occurring in Russell’s newest neighborhood—The Willows of Willow Point.

Russell Lands’ core neighborhoods—The Ridge, Willow Point, Trillium, Windermere, etc.—are amenity-rich developments. The Ridge has the lake’s largest marina as well as a gorgeous clubhouse, pool and fitness complex. The Willows has the Willow Point Golf & Country Club. Trillium is adjacent to Kowaliga Marina. All of these neighborhoods are close to Russell Crossroads with Catherine’s Market, SpringHouse, The Stables, and miles of trails.

 

The Ridge Marina

 

The Ridge Club

 

Willow Point Golf & Country Club

 

Catherine’s Market

 

Total design concepts make a difference

We are pleased that The Willows, located on Pitchford Hollow, has been so well received. We have already established an attractive design aesthetic in Willow Glynn, which is on the south side of the cove. That design aesthetic in Willow Glynn, along with new ready-to-build designs, has helped our owners move forward with their new Willows lake homes. In fact, The Willows will be a center for building activity this summer.

 

The Birmingham Home & Garden 2019 Inspiration Home

 

New projects may join the list, but by mid-July, no less than 11 lake home projects will either be completed or underway in this new neighborhood. That is pretty impressive when you realize that just a year ago, our road construction was only about 70% complete! Property owners in The Willows are clearly taking advantage of our design experience.

What to look for

We think that this summer will see fewer new home opportunities. Russell Lands, historically, is the largest developer of amenity-rich neighborhoods. Our experience in developing lake homes has led us to create a rich list of builder and architect relationships to help potential owners realize their dream of lake ownership.

If you want to stay abreast of our impressive collection of lakefront lots—or to hear of the newest offerings—reach out to one of our Sales Executives by email or at 256.215.7011.

 

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* For our readers that are used to seeing a more detailed Market Report, please see the June Edition of Lake Magazine. Steven Arnberg has contributed a detailed waterfront sales report for that issue. When available, we will include a link to the electronic version for those who follow the residential numbers.