Short answer – it is still very much a seller’s market. Many waterfront homes are getting multiple offers and being snapped up in only a few days.

But when I dug down into the numbers, I found that waterfront home sales are actually down at Lake Martin through the end of March, 2022. When I compared the three months ended March 31, 2022, to the same period of 2021, I found that the numbers of homes sold are actually down 31%. For the past 2 years this has been the story – that is – we are losing to the prior year. Low inventory has been the culprit. The decreased amount of waterfront homes for sale was % wise much larger than the drop in sales percentage.

Said simply, “of course home sales are down, there are fewer homes to sell!”  But this month shows a new trend for Lake Martin.

This is the first time in a while where we can’t blame the number of waterfront homes for sale when we compare to last year. This year inventory was down, but it was only down 7%. The homes sold was down 31%, or a much higher number than the inventory drop.

Will this trend continue for the rest of 2022? I think it will. But – and here’s a big but – I think Lake Martin home values will continue to rise in 2022 despite the drop in number in home sales. That’s what has happened in previous market phase changes – the numbers of homes selling are a leading indicator of where prices will go. It takes a few months for that to sink in to our market pricing.

Curiously, waterfront lot sales and lot inventory are both up on Lake Martin at the end of March 31, 2022, as compared to this time last year. I expect waterfront lot numbers to continue to increase this year due to new neighborhoods being announced like “Stillwood” near the Moonbranch Slough (not to be confused with Stillwaters ) and Russell Lands’ The Heritage – over by Wicker Point Road. I am not the listing agent of either, but their existence will influence the rest of the market.

Are you an owner of waterfront property on Lake Martin? If so, you might be curious how all of this might affect your property’s value.

I would be glad to give you a free report that gives you a market value. If you are thinking about buying here at Lake Martin, I would love to help as well.