2008 Lake Lanier Sales Statistics-First Half 2008

I have the news on Lake Lanier Listings and Sales (of existing homes on Lake Lanier) for the first half of 2008. These are based upon FMLS stats for homes that were coded as being Lake Lanier or Lakefront property with at least a single slip boat dock or permit for a single slip dock in place. Figures will not be exact, but they are a good representation of activity on Lake Lanier.

General Stats:

1. There are 368 CURRENT Listings with an Average Listing Price of $829,000.

2. There are 12 pending properties with an Average Listing Price of $803,000, with average
Days on Market at 102.

3. From 1/1/08-6/30/08 there have been 104 properties out of the 368 placed on the market with an average list price of $870,000.

Listings:

1. 1/1/07-6/30/07 Listed properties averaged $721,000 Total Listed in this time period = 16

2. 7/1/07-12/31/07 Listed properties averaged $976,000 Total Listed in this time period= 41

Sales:

1. 1/1/08 to 6/30/08 there have been 18 sales with 5 pending sales. The average sales price is $526,000 with average Days on Market at 109 (Low of $239,000 to a high of $800,000). The average list to sales price ratio was 8%

Please Note: There are many homes that have been on the market much longer than this. The days on the market number is skewed if the home was listed for many months and then relisted after the first listing expired, with a new FMLS number and date. The days on market is only calculated from the last time the home was placed on the market with a new listing number and date. Many homes fall into this situation, so in reality days on market is likely much higher. **This has been our experience when appraising lake property and checking to see how many times the home was listed with new dates and FMLS numbers.

2. 1/1/07-6/30/07 there were 30 sales. The average sales price of $623,000 with average Days on Market at 90 (low of 219,000 to a high of $1,384,605). The average list to sales price ratio was 5%

Expired Listings:

In 2007, there were 333 homes that had expired listings with average list price of $741,000. Many have been relisted and currently back on the market

In 2008 first half, there have been 52 expired listings. Average list price of $860,500. Again many have been relisted.

Days on market not available as an average, but most listings are for a period of 90-120 days to start and many have been relisted as a new listing after it expires, so the days on market can be significantly higher, than they appear to be on the current listing.

What does all of this mean?

The bad news is there are loads of listings for more competition between properties and the amount of sales has dropped from same period last year to this year by 40%, with an average of 19 more days on the market. The average sales price dropped by 15.5% from the first half of 2007.

Also, the average list to sales price ratio has increased by 3%. Sellers are accepting lower offers off the list price than they have in the past.

The good news is that from the 1/1/07-6/20/07 period to the same period this year 1/1/08-6/30/8 the average listing price has gone up from $721,000 to $870,000. The average of all the listings is $829,000. So unless prices continue to drop or there are no buyers in this price range and higher, the average sales price from this point forward will be considerably higher than the first half of 2008.

**The pending sales average list price seems to confirm this premise**

Also for buyers there is NO better time than NOW to buy Lake Lanier property. Never again will there be such a selection of homes with highly motivated sellers. The prices have dropped overall however, based upon the stats provided here, this will not be the case much longer.

So get out there and check the inventory and start thinking about purchasing your lake home. Because once the water starts to return and it WILL...Always has.... always will....it is our opinion that prices will rise quickly and if that occurs you will lose out on getting some great deals on this Lake.

Now more than ever you need an Appraisal on any Lake Lanier home you are thinking of buying or selling. You need current, real values. So call today for your Lake Lanier Home Appraisal. We specialize in this kind of property and you need this experience, especially now or it could be a real disaster! www.marytappraisals.com

We hope this information was helpful, please comment if you so desire.

Have a safe summer and remember.....Be Safe on the Lake!

Lake Lanier Water News`

Great news yesterday, the Corps has agreed to release less water from Lake Lanier. The mussels down south can do with less water to survive and GOD knows we need it more than the mussels!

So now we need to PRAY for more rain....90's all this week, will mean alot of evaporation from the lake, so we need the rain and soon.

In the next week I will be putting together some numbers for the 1st 5 months of sales and pending sales on LakeLanier, so stay tuned.

www.marytappraisals.com
www.lakelanierappraiser.blogspot.com

We are seeing more activity just in the last few weeks with appraisals for those looking at lake homes and those wanting to put their homes up for sale.

Lake Lanier Activity in First Quater 2008

As promised, I wanted to give you the numbers on the sales activity on Lake Lanier for the 1st full quarter of 2008.

There were a total of 24 sales that closed between 1/1/08 and 4/1/08. Of those closed sales 4 closed in January, 8 closed in February and 12 closed in March, 2008. An additional 9 homes went under contract in this same time period.

The 9 that pended, they were broken down as follows:
1 Sale in the upper $300,000 range
1 Sale in the upper $400,000 range
3 Sales in the $500,000 range
2 Sales in the $700,000 range
2 Sales in the $800,000 range

Of the 24 sales that closed between 1/1/08-4/1/08 they were broken down as follows:

4 Sales in the $200,000 range
5 Sales in the $300,000 range
3 Sales in the $400,000 range
6 Sales in the $500,000 range
0 Sales in the $600,000 range
1 Sale in the $700,000 range
2 Sales in the $800,000 range
1 Sale in the $900,000 range
2 sales in the 1 Million range

As expected the pending and closed sales went up each month from January to April.

**In comparison to last year, in the same time period, there were 64 closed sales between 1/1/08-4/1/08. Here are some stats on the comparison:

1/1/07-4/1/07 the AVERAGE sales price was $628,000 and the average list to sales price ratio was 4%. The average days on the market before the home went under contract was 77 days.

1/1/08-4/1/08 the AVERAGE sales price was $613,900 with an average list to sales price ratio of 6%. The average days on market before the home went under contract was 99 days.

These are mathematical average of all sales combined. As an appraiser we would define this market as STABLE, not declining. It is too small of a variance to say it was declining.

Based upon the numbers shown above it would appear that the $500,000 price range is the most popular pending and closed sale. There were more than expected number of sales in the $300,000 and below range.

Now to the LISTINGS: There are approximately 322 listings of Lake Lanier homes with boat docks in place. Here is how they break down:

25 listings from $400,000 and under
76 listings from $400,000 to $600,000
95 listings from $600,000 to $ 800,000
50 listings from $$800,000 to 1 Million
69 listings from $1 Million to $3 Million
6 listings from $3 Million to $5 Million
1 Listing over $14 Million and most of you know which one this is!

Overall weighted average of listings comes in around $895,000. Based upon an average of 6% list to sales price ratio, average sale would be $841,300.

So it appears that the average sale price over the next quarter will be higher than the first quarter of 2008 and higher than the first quarter of 2007.

So buyers, you have alot of homes to chose from in every price range. Have fun looking and make 2008 the year to buy because as you can see, the prices will just continue from this point forward to go UP!

The lower price range bracket will continue to diminish and those in the upper price brackets will continue to rise. Almost 24.0% of the 322 listings are 1 million and over!

I hope this information has been helpful and as always.....If you are even thinking of buying or selling on Lake Lanier.....call an EXPERT......Yours truly!

Thanks for stopping by and Be Safe on the Lake.