June 2012 Lake of the Ozarks Real Estate Update

Where the Sales Are This month I’m going to review a breakdown of the property sales so far this year. This will include property types as well as location. Obviously within any given property type there are still a lot of variables so if you have questions on how a specific property fits in the whole scheme of things as far as what is selling, please contact me with the details. Through May 15, 2012 there have been 657 properties sold via the Bagnell Dam/Lake of the Ozarks MLS system. 63.9% Homes, 25.4% Condos, 7.7% Lots/Vacant Land, 1.9% Commercial, .9% Farms. As you can see, almost 90% of sales were residential dwellings. The home sales breakdown is as follows: 46.2% lakefront homes, 16.2% lakeview and/or lakeaccess homes, 37.6% offwater homes. Almost half (47.4%) of the lakefront home sales were located in the Horseshoe Bend and Shawnee Bend areas of the lake including Four Seasons, Porto Cima and The Villages subdivisions. The balance was distributed fairly evenly around the lake with the Gravois Mills area seeing the next highest amount at 10.8% of lakefront home sales. Osage Beach and the Linn Creek area were home to the highest number of lakeview/access homes with a combined total of 39.7%. The leaders in the non waterfront home market were Eldon and Camdenton with 20.8% and 14.6% respectively. Horseshoe Bend/Four Seasons and Versailles areas both tied for 3rd with 10% each. Lots & Vacant Land Sales: 31.2% lakefront lots, .6% lakeview and/or lakeaccess, 63% offwater lots. I was surprised by the number of offwater lots sales. In reviewing the individual sales I did find that the majority of these were small acreages ranging from 5-40 acres but sales also included small building lots and a couple of larger tracts (up to 160 Acres). Condo sales were concentrated in the Horseshoe Bend/Four Seasons and Osage Beach areas totaling almost 2/3 of the market with each area accounting for 30.5% of total condo sales. The rest of the market was fairly even with the Camdenton/Greenview area in 3rd place at 10.8%. In general, I am seeing a lot of activity. Buyers are making offers but I am finding as the market strengthens that sellers are holding firm or close to their list prices and many of the negotiations are ending in stalemates. I feel this is a natural transition as the market makes the slow swing from buyer’s market to recovery however it does make for a lot of frustrated parties on all sides of the deal. Hang in there and make sure you are working with an educated, experienced and patient negotiator. If you would like a detailed sales report on your specific property type or neighborhood, or would like information on the best buys at the lake, contact C. Michael Elliott & Associates at 866.Your.Lake or cme@yourlake.com View thousands of lake area listings at www.YourLake.com. You can also log your opinions on Michael’s real estate blog, www.AsTheLakeChurns.com