Lake Martin Voice Realty
Archive for June, 2009
May 09 Lake Martin Waterfront Sales Highest In 2 Years
The Lake Martin real estate market shook off a 24 month slump by posting 22 waterfront home sales in May 2009 through the MLS.
This is the highest recorded number of lake home sales since May of 2007 when 23 were sold.
This should be welcome news to sellers of lake front property, who saw sales sputter on Lake Martin in April. This rally brings 2009 total sales to 53, slightly ahead of 2008’s May to date total of 50.
Could this be a return to normalcy for the Lake, and for luxury second home markets as a whole?
It certainly is encouraging to see the current month trounce the same month last year. Year to year improvements on units sold are seen by many analysts as a critical sign of real estate recovery, and it is a statistic that I am hyper focused on for Lake Martin.
The Bad News (Or Good News To Buyers)
One thing that sellers did not like to see was the total number of waterfront homes for sale in the Lake Martin MLS ROSE AGAIN this month to a total of 555. I can’t find another month on record that had this many for sale. This dubious honor will no doubt keep the balance of supply and demand in the favor of buyers, for at least several months.
A Look Ahead
I am not ready to call the bottom yet. I would like to see at least three or four months in a row of slayings like this. One interesting figure is that, as of this writing, there are 34 water front homes pending in the Lake Martin MLS.
How many of these will close in June? Some are short sales and are taking a long time during the due diligence phase. Some are not short sales or foreclosures and will close in July anyway.
Right now, praise God, I have been busier than ever. I have 5 homes under contract and probably 1 will close in June. My point is, in June 2008, only 7 sold on the entire Lake.
Therefore we have a good chance that if even half of current pending sales close in June 2009, Lake Martin sales will trounce June 2008.
Hey buyers – are you going to wait around and let all the good ones get picked over? Why not give me a call and let me point you to the best deals at 350k, 450k, 550k, and beyond?
To the reader – what do you think about this rally? Is this bull market cyclical or secular? Are you ready to call the bottom? Why or why not? Please leave a comment or reply below.
For Every Post I Have Written On Sales Statistics, See:
Lake Martin Market Statistics Category
(*)Disclaimers: All of the above info was taken from the Lake Martin Area Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service. Accuracy is not guaranteed but deemed reliable. The above does not include sales by FSBOs or developers that sell privately and not through the MLS. But, I do think that the above represents a very large majority of all sales on Lake Martin.
Lake Martin’s 2009 Jazz Fest Will Start And End Strong
The Alex City Jazz Fest continues to provide the Lake Martin area with the best value in music and entertainment. Since the Jazz Fest is free, it’s hard to beat that value.
You can also make the case that, on the Lake Martin concert scale of things, the Jazz Fest offers some of the best music, regardless of price.
A look at prior years’ Jazz Fests rosters shows you talent that you might pay heavily to hear: Joe Bonamassa, Derek Trucks, the Neville Brothers, Dr. John, just to name a few.
OPENING WITH A BANG
Don’t be late to downtown Alex City on Friday night, June 12, 2009. The first act is old style delta blues master Kent DuChaine. He starts at 6:00 PM, so you better get there early.
Kent is a throwback to the blues pioneers of the pre-1950s era. He plays an old steel Dobro, with a slide, of course. He plays anywhere, anytime. In fact he has been in the Netherlands or something playing the week before Jazz Fest. Kent has headlined blues festivals in Europe and the US, but (for some reason) you can still see him at local bars (Marty’s in Birmingham) and private parties. He plays hard no matter if the crowd is 10 or 10,000.
I won’t go on and on about his impeccable blues lineage, except to say that through his days with Alabama blues legend Johnny Shines, he has a direct tutorial line to Robert Johnson. In fact I think he plays Johnson’s tunes to perfection. Most musicians I hear, even self b
illed blues players, do horrible justice to Robert Johnson songs. Most feel the need to try to have a modern interpretation that just falls flat. Or, they attempt acoustic and just sound weak, tinny, and condescendingly corn pone hokey. Kent plays Robert Johnson’s blues not exactly how he sounds on the Library of Congress recordings, but how he would have played them in a beer joint outside of Clarksdale, MS on a sweltering summer night. Think Clapton’s Unplugged “Rollin and Tumblin.” Rip-roaring. Brazen. Pillaging the countryside. Unafraid of the Crossroads. Mocking the hell hounds.
DuChaine also expertly covers the Chess era of the blues. Muddy, the Wolf, Sonny Boy, and the like. He switches effortlessly between the boasts of “Red Rooster” to the solemn wail of “Death Don’t Have No Mercy.” Kent also mixes in his own material with the masters.’ Solid Gold.
I’ve heard Kent play probably 30 times in my life. He only gets better. Do yourself a favor and get a taste of real authentic delta blues. I almost hate to label him like that, for fear that some may judge too quickly. But, as my wife - who “does not like Western movies” – sobbed uncontrollably through the last 2 hours of Lonesome Dove, I think that most people won’t realize he played delta blues, they will just know they loved it.
CLOSING WITH A BLAST
Susan Tedeschi will be the last act for 2009 Jazz Fest, Saturday Night at the Lake Martin Amphitheater.
She is super talented. I hear her a lot on the Sirius – XM Blues Channel. From her recordings, I think we can expect more original stuff than covers, but that’s OK by me, because she’s really good. It seems like every time I hear a strong, soulful female voice singing on the Channel, I check the artist’s name and it’s her. Tedeschi also just so happens to be married to former Jazz Fest headliner Derek Trucks.
Did I mention the Jazz Fest is free? Don’t let my lack of ink on the other acts deter you. I’m trying to say that it wil all be good.
Full 2009 Alex City Jazz Fest Schedule
