This has been a busy – busy – busy winter for us at Russell Lands. We have had lots of activity mixed in along with the holiday and bowl season. Talk about hustle and bustle! We are working feverishly to take care of the many requests for new lake homes at Russell Lands On Lake Martin. Quite literally the shelves are almost bare!
Selling out of inventory
In 2015, the real estate market was brisk to say the least, with the sales volume for lake homes soaring 43.4% over 2014 (and 2014 was a pretty good year). Average prices improved with all residential property values increasing by 11.2%. That is great news for the lake market, but it created a problem for the many customers that we are still serving – we have nearly wiped out the available inventory!
Take The Ridge for instance. Just a few years ago, a prospective customer would have had as many as 35 residential properties to consider for purchase. This year in mid-January, there were only five available waterfront homes in The Ridge. Given last year’s pace, we will be out of homes before April 1, without any new inventory.
Willow Glynn has a greater shortage of available homes than The Ridge. This most recent addition to the Willow Point area has just about sold out of available properties. In fact, as of this writing there are no completed available lake homes for sale in this popular neighborhood, and only a small handful of building sites available. We are faced with very limited inventory at the start of our sales season!
Help is on the way
An armada of concrete, lumber and contractor trucks has been rolling every morning this year with many more warming their engines. Half of the armada is working on custom lake homes for new property owners. The other half are getting ready to build new lake homes for the spring and summer market in The Ridge and Willow Glynn
They have been waiting for the engineers, architects and interior designers to create new building sites, home designs and gorgeous lake interiors. This creative process is worth the wait because we are about to see some very beautiful new designs in our neighborhoods.
A quick preview
We have six different approved builders working on seven new Ridge lake homes. We can’t feature them all in this space, so allow us to brag on a new design, The Stone Manor, being built by Newcastle Homes. Foundation work is underway on this beautiful new home in South Ridge Harbor with a summer delivery schedule planned.
In Willow Glynn, there are only two homes starting this winter with two new designs coming off the drawing board. With only six building lots left (including the lots offered for the new designs), there are very few opportunities in this very popular neighborhood. We believe we will sell out of available waterfront properties this summer.
The seven new homes being added to the five existing homes in The Ridge will not equal last year’s 24 sales. The eight total available waterfront properties in Willow Glynn will not be enough to satisfy the total demand for lakefront homes in the Willow Point/Willow Glynn area.
Building high quality homes in these two very popular neighborhoods and delivering them this year is a very challenging task. It takes time – but it sure is worth the wait! We may not be able to take care of the total demand, so for now, It is first come – first served!
To find out about all of the new and exciting lake front homes – or other properties at Russell Lands On Lake Martin – call one of our Sales Executives at 256.215.7011. The have all the information you need at their fingertips!!
