Leelanau Sales Hit High Water Mark In A Real Estate Market Gone Wild

Leelanau’s current real estate climate is creating a dramatic storyline, with anecdotes of overnight offers, cottages bought sight-unseen, 15-minute showings of “unicorn” houses, and listings of once-in-a-lifetime properties. But just how off-the-charts have property sales been? Here’s a peek, by-the-numbers.

“It’s turned out to be the largest year for us by far in 20 years,” says Roger Schaub of Schaub Team Premier Realty in Suttons Bay.

Not just for Schaub. Sales in September set an all-time record for the month, according to figures from the Traverse Area Association of Realtors. The total of $42,437,650 on sales of 89 homes is far above prior totals: 53 homes for $23,788,545 last September and the previous record, 60 homes sold for a total of $27,644,367 in September 2017.

Despite — or perhaps because of — the six-week shutdown of business in March and April due to the pandemic, the market has been steadily gaining strength. “There was pent-up energy,” Schaub acknowledges.

While there was hope that would be the case, no one really knew what would happen following the unprecedented closure of the economy. “From March to May it was so quiet,” says Pam DePuy with The Martin Company of Glen Arbor. Since activity picked up again in June, “it’s just been nuts.”

That’s the story most everywhere across the north. The five-county real estate market served by TAAR totaled $151,270,406 on sales of 423 homes last month. That is nearly $47 million more than the previous high of $104,504,358 in September 2018.

September outstripped August as well. Nationally, home sales were up 9.4 percent from August. Leelanau County topped that as well, going from 68 in August to 89 in September, an increase of more than 30 percent.

By now, the reasons are not a secret: record-low interest rates, technology and the claustrophobic effect of people being sequestered in their homes. The shutdown had the unanticipated effect of sending some folks scurrying away from crowded urban areas, with an eye to Leelanau. With remote working suddenly becoming a thing, a number of those who found themselves working from home chose to make their home here.

But from where are these newcomers to Leelanau County coming?

“I’m getting calls from all over the United States,” says Judy Levin of Coldwell Banker Schmidt Realtors in Suttons Bay. “People [want] out of the big cities. A couple from Brooklyn sold their condo and are buying a beautiful home here. I get calls from Texas, Florida, Arizona, the Carolinas.”

“We’re seeing large play from the Detroit suburbs,” adds Schaub. The area’s relative proximity to southeastern Michigan — “You can get in a car and get here in four hours” — gives those looking for a second home a space that’s away but relatively nearby. Some buy that second home anticipating retiring within the next few years, while others are taking early retirement to move. “Younger clients are moving here fulltime because you can work remotely.”

It’s not just about remote working, either. With online schooling becoming more prevalent, having an internet connection which allows Mom and Dad to work online while the kids are learning virtually is of paramount importance. “I’ve had some buyers stall because the internet is not good enough,” Schaub says. “It’s a leading question for buyers: How is the internet? We need better, bigger, stronger, faster connections.”

And where in Leelanau are they buying? “Everywhere,” says Schaub. Whether on the water, in town or in the country, sales are up at every price point. “There isn’t a segment that isn’t producing at its highest level.”

An “X” marked the spot on the map for Glen Arbor specifically, in a recent trend watch published by realtor.com, which identified the Top Affordable Lake Towns In the U.S.

Glen Arbor ranked number three — with a median lake home price of $390,000 — behind Branson, Missouri, whose median lake home price is $444,900; and Chestertown, New York, with a median lake home price of $493,900.

DePuy says Glen Lake and the area in and around Glen Arbor have seen so much action there are few homes available, and when they are they are quickly snapped up. Rather than sit back and wait for offers to come in on two homes on Big Glen Lake she had listed, she told fellow Realtors to bring their best offers on a particular day.

Leelanau-specific real estate numbers contributed to another record this September. For the first three quarters of the year, sales totaled $179,193,541 on sales of 369 homes. Both those figures eclipse last year’s total of 345 homes for $155,84,626. While January-September of 2017 saw 376 home sales, the total dollar volume was $30 million short of this year at $149,058,964. That represents an average price of $396,433, compared with this year’s average of $485,619.

Realtors also cite the record-low mortgage rates as helping to drive the market. Lawrence Yun, National Association of Realtor’s chief economist, says the confluence of interest rates and an abundance of buyers in the marketplace has pushed the market, including buyers of vacation homes, given the greater flexibility to work from home.

While it is definitely a seller’s market, to price a home correctly is key, with pricing too high not creating an advantage: “If you price it at market value and it’s in nice condition, it will go [sell] over the list price,” says Levin. Multiple offers are now the norm.

Where and when will it end? That’s hard to say, as agents continue to work with clients who want to move here. “I’ve got five (potential) buyers who want to be on the north shore of Glen Lake,” says DePuy.

Photo: A Lake Michigan home listed for $2,500,000 this week on Manitou Trail (M-22).