Report: Lake Michigan Has The Most Lake Home Listings But Texas Has The Highest Listing Value

From Staff Reports

For potential lake home or lot buyers, the options are much better this spring than a year ago. According to the Spring 2023 Lake Real Estate Market Report from Lake Homes Realty, 70,101 lake home and lot listings are currently on the market, totaling $33,739,943,882. These statistics are up from the 59,849 listings for $26.134 billion in the Spring 2022 report. In Spring 2021, $28.8 billion in lake home and lot listings were for sale. These statistics are pulled from the quarterly Lake Real Estate Market Reports compiled by Lake Homes Realty from the 34 states covered on LakeHomes.com. 

Top Lake Real Estate Markets

Of the 6,600 lakes featured on LakeHomes.com, Lake Michigan has the largest inventory available, totaling $1.458 billion between lakefront, lake view, and lake access properties in Illinois and Michigan, according to the Spring 2023 Lake Real Estate Market Report. For the largest markets, Lake Michigan was followed, in order, by Puget Sound in Washington, Lake Norman in North Carolina, Lewisville Lake in Texas, and Lake Washington in Washington state. 

Eleven states serviced by Lake Homes Realty had more than $1 billion in lake home and lot real estate listings, according to the quarterly report. Texas leads the way again with a total of $6.626 billion from its 12,670 listings. Florida is second with $4.496 billion for its 8,748 listings. Washington state was third with $2.54 billion for 2,711 lake homes and lot properties for sale. The other $1 billion-plus states in order include North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Alabama, Illinois, and South Carolina.

For the total number of listings, Texas had the most lake home and lot listings (12,670), followed by Florida (8,748), Tennessee (5,250), North Carolina (4,275), Georgia (3,780), Alabama (3,387), and Missouri (3,011). 

For the most expensive lake home averages, Florida, Montana, and Washington were the top areas featured. The average for lake homes on Lake Butler, Florida was $3.917 million each. Lake homes on Flathead Lake, Montana averaged $3.799 million. Lake Down, Florida homes averaged $3.722 million and Lake Washington, Washington homes were $3.499 million. Among all of the homes and lots featured on LakeHomes.com, the average price was $481,304. These listings ranged from a $35 million estate and a $50 million lot outside of Austin, Texas to much more affordable lake lots in other parts of the country. 

“Lake home and land sellers must continue thinking more broadly than local real estate and market comps,” said Glenn S. Phillips, CEO and Chief Economic Analyst for Lake Homes Realty. “From the buyers across the country visiting LakeHomes.com, we know many buyers are looking for a lake home on multiple lakes, often in different states. Therefore, sellers are not just competing with the houses for sale on their local lake,” said Phillips.  “It is wise to price a lake property with a solid understanding of multiple markets, such as the information we include in this report, and with guidance on home prices on similar lakes in other areas of the country,” he said. “Pricing is something our licensed agents can uniquely assist with for lake homes and land sellers.

Windy City Shoppers

With the colder temps in Chicago, local residents are searching for lake homes across the country. Chicago residents were the top searchers on LakeHomes.com in the following states:  Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Texas. While Chicago lake home dreamers are looking at lakes in various states, St. Louis residents are the top searchers for lakes in Illinois.

The appeal of the lake lifestyle definitely increases as temperatures warm in the spring and summer. One in 30 U.S. adults visits LakeHomes.com each year. 

Buckle Up:  Rollercoaster of Lake Home Listings and Pricing

Historically, lake home and lot listings rise through the summer and fall as the weather improves, according to Phillips.

“We are seeing an increase in inventory over this time last year and anticipate more homes and lots will come on the market as the weather warms and lake season hits high gear,” said Phillips.

“Over the past six quarters, our Lake Real Estate Market Reports show listings from our 34 states to range from as few as 58,849 and as high as 87,073. In the quarterly snapshots of the lake real estate market total inventory list prices over the same six seasons collectively ranged from $26 billion to nearly $45 billion,” he said. “The average of all our inventory, both lake homes and lots, ranged from $436,674 to $514,232.”

The Spring 2023 Lake Real Estate Market Report shares a summary of data collected from more than 145 MLS areas in the 34 states served by Lake Homes Realty and is, to its knowledge, not available from any other source. Copies of the Spring 2023 Lake Real Estate Market Report are now available to download for free at www.lakehomes.com/report.