I had a customer recently who inquired about a waterfront land listing on the west shore of Kezar Lake in Lovell. This property is 1.96 acres with 438 feet of shore frontage and lists for $625,000.
After I sent him the listing information he sent me back an email that said, "What makes this, less than 2 acre, plot so expensive? At over $600K for 2 acres, I would expect a house, etc. on the property." Indeed, he expects a house with this land priced so high. Why not a three car garage and stables for the horses!
I told him that there were two key factors at play here. One is that there aren't many nice private, buildable lakefront lots out there for sale. The second is that Kezar Lake is one of the most desireable lakes in the area. That combination keeps the price on the high side.
Now, while I don't think there is a line of people ready with full price offers beating down the door of the local real estate office, this asking price is probably not too far off the mark. In fact, there's another lot right beside this one that is 1.13 acres with 150 feet on the water that's listing for $675,000! Last year a lot on Thompson Lake in Poland that had 600 feet on the water sold for over $1 million. Kezar and Thompson are two very sought after lakes.
Take those same lots and move them to smaller bodies of water and the price goes down. Move them to bodies of water further north in the state and the price will also go down. Yes, it's the old "location, location, location" song that the real estate market sings. Generally speaking, the smaller the body of water the smaller the price for the land around it - relatively speaking, of course. Go up north and the price goes down, too.
In the same town that Kezar Lake is in, Lovell, there's another body of water called Bradley Pond. It's probably not 50 acres in size. There's nothing wrong with it - it's just small, that's all. There's a land listing with shore frontage on that pond - 6.5 acres and 665 feet of frontage. The asking price? $187,500.
Now there are, of course, other mitigating factors on these land values besides 1)buildable lakefront land scarcity and 2)the lake they're located on. For instance, what's the slope to the lot, will the soils condition allow a septic system, what's the entry to the water like, how good is the water view, is it private, what's the vegetation, and are there accessability issues.
But desireability of the lake and the size of the lake play a big role in the price of the land that touches it's waters. One of the keys to knowing lakefront land value is to know your lake.
To take a closer look at the land listings referenced in this blog posting by using these hotlinks:
Lovell - Kezar Lake - 1.96 acres - 438 feet of frontage - $625k.
Lovell - Kezar Lake - 1.13 acres - 150 feet of frontage - $675k.
Lovell - Bradley Pond - 6.5 acres - 665 feet of frontage - $187,500.
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