NC is a Top 5 real estate market in the US for lake homeowners. Here’s why.
North Carolina lake home owners are listing their homes in droves, a new report by Lake Homes Realty shows.
The report shows the state having the fifth-largest lake real estate market in the U.S, with Lake Norman’s real estate market as the standout.
“North Carolina has a meaningful number of lakes of size and few lakes with real estate at low price points,” said Glenn S. Phillips, CEO and chief economic analyst at Lake Homes Realty.
“Some states have more shoreline but much lower average list prices, and some states have higher average list prices but less miles of shoreline, creating less homes to consider,” he said.
North Carolina’s unique combination of many miles of lake shoreline (creating room for more houses), plus few low priced homes, creates a “strong total available inventory by price” for our state, he said.
Lake real estate listings nationally have increased by $7.3 billion since May and by $17.7 billion since February, the report says.
Top lake real estate listings in the nation
These states have the most lake real estate inventory for sale, per the Lake Homes Realty report. All 13 states have over $1 billion in inventory.
Texas - $7.29 billion
Florida - $4.82 billion
Washington - $4.47 billion
Minnesota - $2.9 billion
North Carolina - $2.72 billion
Michigan – $2.66 billion
Georgia - $2.17 billion
Tennessee - $2.16 billion
Illinois - $1.66 billion
South Carolina - $1.58 billion
Alabama - $1.36 billion
New York - $1.16 billion
Missouri - $1.1 billion
To see North Carolina’s lake home inventory, visit lakehomes.com/north-carolina.
What makes the lake real estate market unique?
There are some key differences between the lake real estate market and other types of real estate markets, Phillips said.
▪ For one, lake homes are typically discretionary, second-property purchases. Many lake homeowners don’t take out mortgages, he said.
“Some buyers may come from great distances, even many states, away,” he said. “While some lake home buyers have a particular lake in mind, others are more interested in a type of home, at a certain price point, and shop in multiple states (or at multiple lakes within a state) at the same time.”
Lake home buyers are rarely, if ever, first-time homebuyers, he said.
▪ Also, it’s common for lake home buyers to take years searching for their dream home, refusing to settle.
▪ And first-time lake home buyers are often confused about the price of lake property, since the location relative to the lake has a significant influence on the value of the home, he said.
“Consider a home in the suburbs valued at $350,000. An identical home on a lake may be $500,000 or more due to the proximity to the lake,” Phillips said. “This confuses many first time lake home buyers until they understand this market better. Location. Location. Location.”
This story was originally published September 20, 2022 at 9:50 AM.
