Conditions make for slightly better real estate market

The combination of low mortgage rates and a slightly improving economy spell modest growth for the real estate market in Presque Isle County this year. While house sales are down slightly from a year ago, the average sale price is up 14 percent over the same period last year based on figures from the Michigan Association of Realtors and the Water Wonderland Board of Realtors. Downstate investors are shopping for bargains in the recreational and hunting land sectors as prices on the western side of the northern Lower Peninsula continue to climb out of reach for average buyers.

“My buyers are not walking around the streets of Rogers City. Every time the stock market takes a dive I get calls from accountants looking for property to buy,” said Mary Field, of Northgate Real Estate. Field said she gets about 700 hits a month on her website. She advertises in Detroit for three types of property: hunting/vacant land; Lake Huron waterfront; and inland lake properties. She said buyers are not very loyal to any one real estate agent these days and the Internet buyers expect 24/7 response times.

Bill Hanson of Real Estate One agrees, adding that, “Hunt clubs often sell by word of mouth. These are parcels of 40 acres or more priced around $1,500 per acre.” In the for-sale-by-owner area, Hanson estimates there are six or seven of these home sales currently on the market in the Rogers City area.

HE COMMENTED that the commercial sector has been slow as some buildings around town have been on the market for more than a year. Field also noted that there are some objections by local property owners that out-of-county buyers drive up the property values. This has been observed in the Grand Lake area. “Real estate this year started fairly slow,” said Robin Spencer of Spencer and Associates. “I sold a nice home on the east side of Grand Lake. That side of the lake tends to be a higher demand area,” “One, it does not have US-23 behind it, two, it does have the view of the western sunset and, three, it’s got more of a community identity with the little church, the fire hall and the library, this type of thing,” he said. Spencer said a lot of parcels around the lake have stayed in the same family for generations and don’t turn over very often.

“As far as the Presque Isle Harbor Association goes, we have been doing a brisk business in lots and the prices have been better this year than in the past and the reason they have been better is because people are finally asking more for their land,” Spencer added. “In previous years the price of the interior lots had gone down to the point where a lot of local people bought them with no intention of building but to take advantage of what we jokingly call ‘a poor man’s country club,'” he said.

SPENCER EXPLAINED that two and three lot packages are becoming popular for people who want to build and want to have more than one lot. They are willing to pay a higher premium for a two or a three-lot package. He went on to describe the pricing of lakefront property in the area. “You had a lesser value on Lake Esau, a little more on Grand Lake, and a little more on Lake Huron over the years. Over the last few years lots have tended to equalize more with sellers on the smaller lakes asking more for their property and getting it,” he said. According to Spencer, Grand Lake has a bigger demand because families can use their pontoons and enjoy water skiing and related activities.

On the east side o

f Grand Lake, prices run between $1,500 and $2,000 a front foot compared to $3,000 to $4,000 a front foot over on the other side of the state. Spencer noted that the most expensive lake properties in the state are Walloon Lake and Torch Lake. “And then you get into Lake Michigan as opposed to Lake Huron and that type of thing,” he said. “Because I actually live on both sides of the state for different parts of the year, I call that (Lake Michigan) the vibrant part of the state and ours the tranquil part of the state. I’d much rather spend more time on the tranquil side,” Spencer said.

“Sales are down a bit from last summer, it’s weather-related. Blue skies and sunshine sell property. “We are not getting that much downstate traffic, everybody has the Internet and they can check the weather and see 60 percent chance of rain and they just don’t want to come. “I look for it to be a pretty good year next year, no matter how the election comes out,” he concluded.

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