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Lake Homes Market Report for MN, Ottertail & Becker Counties

By
Industry Observer with Cold

How is the market for Lake Homes in the Ottertail and Becker Lakes area? 

Let's take a look at some of the numbers from the area Multiple Listing Services....
[Side Note: I belong to the the Detroit Lakes area MLS as well as the Fergus Falls area MLS.  Combined they give a very good picture of what is happening over the entire Minnesota, Ottertail and Becker county Lakes Area.]

In general, Lakeshore properties are taking much longer to sell, and Buyers have more choices than ever before.

Monthly closed sales

Without getting too detailed into the specifics, the chart shows two trends. 

  1. Lake homes sell better during the summer months... (Not many people are thinking about fun at the lake when it's -20 ouside.)
  2. Sales have dropped slightly over the last 2+ years, but have remained fairly steady.

While this is certainly not as bad as other areas of the country, the average loss of sales does make it harder to sell a lake home in this market.
What other factors are at work in the area?
One major change in the number of homes that are currently on the market:

Active Listings

The upper lines show the number of active listings each month over the last 2 years for the Detroit Lakes area.  The lower lines are for the Fergus Falls area.  There are, on average, several hundred more lake homes for sale than 2 years ago. 

Fewer sales + More Competition = Buyers Market

Another way of looking at the above information is this:  There are approximately 800+ lake homes in the area currently on the market.  Approximately 35 will sell next month...

35 Buyers will have taken advantage of this great opportunity to purchase a Lake Home!

Joe Johnson
Coldwell Banker Preferred Partners
(218) 863-8723
www.LakesAreaHome.com
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Comments(1)

Teri Eckholm
Boardman Realty - White Bear Lake, MN
REALTOR Serving Mpls/St Paul North & East Metro

Joe--I am glad you posted this as I was wondering how lakeshore sales were trending in other areas. We are seeing a similar trend in the north metro of the Twin Cities with lakeshore (Anoka, Chisago and Washington Counties). More lakeshore homes than ever to choose from and prices seem to be trending downward. Lots of good opportunities for those who want to own lakeshore at a great price!

Sep 29, 2008 04:55 AM