Lake Martin Magazine interviewed me a couple of weeks ago about the effect of the drought on the Lake Martin real estate market, and general trends affecting buyers, sellers, and realtors. They included it in an article called "Special Report: The Water Issue" in the November 2007 issue. I thought Nikki Reeves and Kenneth Boone did a good job of covering a huge topic.
While they didn't publish the entire interview, they did use a couple of nuggets, and managed to add in a compliment to me. Here's the entire interview, with the parts that Lake Magazine used highlighted in yellow:
Lake Magazine: Has the lake level affected your individual/company's business this year in comparison to previous years? Has it done so in a positive/negative way?
John Coley: While I personally have been fortunate to have a better year in 2007 than 2006, I can't say that for the real estate market as a whole. Through August, the number of waterfront closings per year was down 35%, from 346 to 226. I can't help but think that a portion of that is due to the low lake level. I don't think that it's a majority of the culprit, though. I think the major blame for a slower market still lies at the feet of sellers who have overpriced their offerings. From 2000 to 2006 sellers became accustomed to 30% gains in value per year, and priced in 07 accordingly. The facts have shown that there was little or no value gain in 07 from 06, and some sellers have not figured that out yet. Case in point is the auction in July 07 at Harbor Pointe. They sold 25 condos in one day even though the water was extremely low, so you can't blame it on the level. They sold them because the prices were low enough for buyers to accept.
Click here for the rest of the interview...
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