The stock market last week acted pretty crazy and everyone scrambled around until a bunch of stocks got killed, for no reason from my perspective. That’s why I like real estate, especially real estate in an area that I know and have lived in most of my adult life.
Last week I talked about our unique real estate market in the Hayward area; this week we are going to take a look at the “hottest” part of the market in terms of real estate sales.
What is it? Vacant land! Both off-water and on-water lots and larger parcels have maintained strong sales in terms of numbers and dollar volume in the greater Hayward area. In just Sawyer County and the Hayward School District sales have topped $5 million for the trailing twelve months; 100 parcels with average sales of just above $49,000. For the same period last year sales on 94 parcels were slightly above $4 million for an average of about $43,000. Both years exceeded the prior year and the prior year….well you get the drift.
On-water lots for the past twelve months continues strong with sales of more that $7 million for an average of $170,000; the twelve months prior was especially good with more than $9.3 million in sales with an average sale of $155,850. Going forward there will be less and less available lake shore and prices will continue to move upward.
That said, it is easy to understand why off-water property has become a major sector, you get a good bang for your buck, privacy and the opportunity to drag your boat to any one of the crystal clear lakes of our area without paying the higher taxes. For those who do not recreate on the water or fish there are some great neighborhoods, like “The Brook”, being developed for the quiet sports folks and those who come to our area just to relax.
Next week find out about another hot sector in our real estate market.
Forecast here is sunny, warm and dry with plenty of clean air to breath and north woods to explore and lakes to enjoy! Make it a great weekend and have a Happy July 4th.
Life is good!
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Hayward Real Estate Market
The housing market in the US has seen its biggest boom in history; prices have been really amazing. As a nation the housing market has flattened and that is somewhat the case in the Hayward area as well. BUT, it is unlikely that we will have a severe downturn as is the case in certain other parts of the country. In my twenty-six years of living in this area I have found that this market is far more resilient and stable; we see less severe swings in pricing and it is rare to see degradation in home values, particularly lake home properties. Another reason for our market stability is due to the fact that our pool of buyers come from a 14+ million person market (Chicago, Twin Cities, Milwaukee/Madison, etc...) and that we only have 545 active waterfront listings in all of Sawyer County (vacant waterfront lots and lake homes). The Hayward area property values typically move upward over a few years, flatten out for a period and then begin to climb again; it’s a market that just has not suffered severe downturns.
We live in an area that is blessed with fresh air, crystal clear lakes and tens of thousands of acres of forest land, much of which is owned by the Federal, State and local County governments, which of course translated means we own it. Our market is unique, we are an end-user market; there is less speculation buying in our area, it is more driven by demand for lake shore properties and vacant land. People come to this area for the “experience”; a life away from the hassles of traffic, congestion, noise and the fast-paced-life that is so often a part of larger metropolitan areas. Living in the Hayward area, which includes all of Sawyer and parts of Washburn, Bayfield and Douglas counties, is like having your “up-north dream come true”. Often I feel that we sell a life experience as much as we sell real estate.
Boomers and Gen X’ers have money (they are going to inherit a bunch more wealth), they have prospered and they are buying vacation, second homes and vacant lands in increasing numbers; I don’t expect that to change anytime soon. Unless the broader market collapses we should continue to enjoy a relatively stable real estate market in our area.
Next week: What’s Hot?
We live in an area that is blessed with fresh air, crystal clear lakes and tens of thousands of acres of forest land, much of which is owned by the Federal, State and local County governments, which of course translated means we own it. Our market is unique, we are an end-user market; there is less speculation buying in our area, it is more driven by demand for lake shore properties and vacant land. People come to this area for the “experience”; a life away from the hassles of traffic, congestion, noise and the fast-paced-life that is so often a part of larger metropolitan areas. Living in the Hayward area, which includes all of Sawyer and parts of Washburn, Bayfield and Douglas counties, is like having your “up-north dream come true”. Often I feel that we sell a life experience as much as we sell real estate.
Boomers and Gen X’ers have money (they are going to inherit a bunch more wealth), they have prospered and they are buying vacation, second homes and vacant lands in increasing numbers; I don’t expect that to change anytime soon. Unless the broader market collapses we should continue to enjoy a relatively stable real estate market in our area.
Next week: What’s Hot?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)