Geneva Lakefront Home Update
by Rob Keefe

The shores of Lake Geneva continue to represent the most prized real estate in Southeastern Wisconsin. Last year saw far fewer sales of those homes than in 2008,... as sellers refused to discount heavily and the pool of qualified buyers decreased.

In 2009, just over $26 million of real estate changed hands on the lakefront, compared to over $50 million in 2008. This represents a decline of nearly 50% in just one year. The number of transactions declined from 21 to 13. The average price paid per front foot of lakefrontage, a common measure of relative value, was $22,600 in 2009. Note that this figure is inclusive of land and buildings. This is slightly below the 7-year average of $25,900 and a significant reduction from the $31,670 per-foot value in 2008. Much of the reason for the large year-over-year drop in per-front-foot pricing can be attributed to a changing mix of properties. Indeed, the median sale price decline was much more moderate: from $2.55M in 2008 to $2.00M in 2009. Lakefront property pricing and market dynamics are complicated and require significant experience to place in context.