September 2025 Market Update for Lake Martin Real Estate

All right, the summer 2025 is in the books and over. So, what’s happened with Lake Martin real estate sales? In this blog, I will give you the September 2025 market update. I’m going to go over the sales for waterfront homes and lots. I’m also going to hit what I think is skewing the numbers a little bit and just give you the big themes. This is because it’s been an interesting summer.

2025 Lake Martin Real Estate Trends Explained

To give you the big picture, home sales are up actually 10% when you compare it to last year in number of homes sold. Inventory is actually down about 10% when we look at the numbers of homes for sale on the waterfront on the lake. But, the inventory is still 20% higher than our 5-year average. 

Lots are a different story at Lake Martin right now. The number of lots sold are actually down 15% from last year. What I’m doing is I’m looking at the Lake Martin Multiple Listing Service. That’s all agents, all brokerages, everybody. 

Sales are down 15%. So, what does that mean? Well, your inventory is down 40% from last year. That is a huge impact on waterfront lot sales, especially if you look at June and July which are the main selling months for us. Those are the two big numbers and trends. 

September 2025 Market Update: Inventory Trends on Lake Martin

Another thing to know about Lake Martin is most of our sales happen from March to October every single year. This means when we look at inventory trends that we look at sales trends. When we get to the end of September, we can pretty much make a call on which way the market is going to go. However, we cannot call which way prices will go, because this is where the bulk of our sales are. 

I do have a lot of buyers looking right now. They ask, “Is it even worth looking right now?” I think so. Even though you have a fewer number of homes for sale and certainly a fewer number of lots for sale, it’s definitely worth looking. This is because there are still homes out there for sale.

Home Sales Breakdown for September 2025 Market Update

I wanted to kind of drill down into some of the home sales here and tell you what I’m seeing as an agent. This helps buyers and sellers trying to figure out which way the market is going because really that’s what it comes down to. It comes down to looking at the good, comparable sales. 

Our market is a really small market. We were up to 227 home sales through the end of September. That’s nine months with 227 sales and 400 agents getting those 227 sales. 

Anyway, when we have big huge sales with that small a number of home sales, it can sometimes skew the averages. This quarter, or the three months we just went through, had four key sales that I think are really instructive to take a look at.

September 2025 Market Update: Key Home Sales on Lake Martin

Let’s take a look at the key sales that we’ve had in July, August, and September of 2025 that I think are really kind of bell ringers for this market. 

#1 Sale on Lake Martin in 2025

Number one, we had an $8 million sale in a neighborhood called The Willows. It’s on the west side of the lake. It’s a very nice Russell Lands neighborhood. It actually was the top sale that we’ve ever seen recorded inside our multiple listing service. So, that’s the number one sale ever, and it happened in The Willows.

It’s notable for that alone but also to know that Russell Lands has a newer neighborhood called The Heritage. Because it’s new, a lot of new stuff that’s been happening at the lake has been happening in The Heritage.

This sale was in The Willows, which is a relatively new neighborhood, but not the newest. And so, that was over $8 million and certainly is affecting our averages here. But, I do think it was interesting that our number one sale ever came from there. 

A high percentage of our sales get recorded in a multiple listing service, probably 95%. I do get questions from people about off-market sales. They’re FSBOs and developer sales like we have in any market, but a high degree of sales happen inside our multiple listing service. 

When I say to you this is the highest one ever recorded in our multiple listing service pretty much, then you can just say it’s the highest one at Lake Martin ever. The reason you need to know this is for when we look at average sales and to give you a relative overlook on the whole one because it’s in The Willows. 

#2 Sale on Lake Martin in 2025

Our number two notable sale was almost $8 million, and it happened in Willow Point. Willow Point is one of the oldest neighborhoods first developed by Russell Lands around 1970. They’ve got a private golf club. This sale was almost $8 million, and it was the top sale in Willow Point ever. 

#3 Sale on Lake Martin in 2025

Another notable sale was around $4 million, and it was in the Blue Creek area off of County Road 34. Blue Creek is a geographic area and is not a neighborhood. If you go to my website, I’ve got a Neighborhoods page. You can go click on that and select Blue Creek. It’ll get you a history of the neighborhood. I have a lot of neighborhoods on there, so check it out. 

Anyway, this sale was in the $4 millions in Blue Creek. That was notable because it was not in a formal neighborhood. So, I’m calling this one as a record also of the highest home sale inside the multiple listing service ever that was not in a formal neighborhood. 

#4 Sale on Lake Martin in 2025

My fourth key sale for the summer of 2025 was around $3 million, and it was in a neighborhood called the Russell Cabins at Kowaliga. That is notable because it’s a new area that Russell is developing. It’s right by Kowaliga restaurant. 

By the way, Kowaliga Restaurant is the oldest and most famous waterfront restaurant on Lake Martin. So, if you’re new to Lake Martin and want to eat somewhere that’s on the water, then Kowaliga is a popular one. Check out their menu on my free Lake Martin Voice App.

The Russell Cabins at Kowaliga is a new area that’s right by Kowaliga Marina. That’s notable because, at this count, they developed about 22 lots in there. So, I think we’re going to start seeing the home sales in this area that are going to be sort of semi-records for the Kowaliga Bay area outside of Trillium, which is another neighborhood in there. 

These four key sales all happened this summer of 2025 on the lake. Next, I will tell you why I think we’re in a little bit of a confusing area in our market and I think some of these sales may be contributing to that. So hang on for that.

Big Themes: What’s Really Happening in the Lake Martin Alabama Homes for sale in the Real Estate Market

As we sit here at the end of September, all the sales are in. What are the big themes that I’m looking for from the fourth quarter of this year. Also, how will our market be affected next year?

I think big thing number one is about what was happening with prices. Where’s our waterfront home market? Because I think it’s a bit confusing.

Average price is actually up from last year. It is at $1.46 million. If you just took all the sales average from all 227 homes that have sold so far this year, it’s $1.46 million. That’s up quite a bit from last year. 

Of these 227 home sales, 40% of them have had price drops. Therefore, it’s hard for me to say that we’re back in a seller’s market. Our average prices are up and our number of homes sold are up slightly. Then, we have 40% of them that have experienced a price drop. Well, what’s normal? 

Last year, about 32% of the houses that sold had a price drop and that 32% was up from 2023. So, 40% is actually a 25% increase from last year. It would be accurate to say that of the waterfront homes sold on the lake so far this year, 25% more of those homes had to drop their price to sell. So, that’s a lot. 

Buyer’s Offer

It kind of plays out with what I’m seeing with buyers, too. Even if they didn’t have price drops, in some of those cases, we’ve been able to negotiate more than 10% off of their list price. I’m at the stage with my buyers where I’m advising them to make an offer but make it based on what we think the comparable sales show and not just what the seller’s asking. 

Seller’s List Price

When I’m sitting down with my sellers, I’m giving them the same news. But, I’m saying, “Look, let’s base our list price on the data. Let’s look at what things have sold for and let’s be aggressive.”

Just last week, we went to market with a house and had a lot of interest. We had six showings on the first day and sold it in a day. We ended up having a backup offer right after that. So, if you price it well, I still think you get good interest. But, sellers have to really pay attention to price more than they used to, I think. 

Lot Sales are Tight

What’s another big thing with lot sales? I think lot sales are super tight right now. Meaning that the inventory is so low right now with lots, you just don’t have much choice. 

Also, if you’re a person that says that you want to have a lot and don’t want to be in a neighborhood with the architectural review committee, and if you want to have, what I call, the gravel road experience in a woodsy area, then watch out. This is because only about 20% of the lots that have sold so far this year in 2025 have been in those kind of situations. 

Again, 80% of them are going to be in formal neighborhoods. So, that’s why I’m saying lot sales are tight, because a lot of my lot buyers do kind of want to do their own thing with a “non-neighborhoody” feel. 

Contact Me

I’m a person that likes to give you the information. I’ll give you my opinions on which way I think the market’s going to go, but I think knowing the numbers is critical to success, whether you’re buying or selling.

The numbers are out there, but having that information is not enough anymore. The ability to synthesize it, being able to boil it down to its key themes, and then give you an informed opinion about which way it’s going is what I do for a living. I love doing this, and I’d love to help you out. If you think we might be a good fit, then just give me a holler. I’m John Coley with Lake Martin Voice Realty.

Also, check out my YouTube channel for more information on what it’s like living on Lake Martin. You can also view the video for my September 2025 Market Update linked at the top of this page. I love doing these videos, and the reason I do them is try to help you out, help my viewers out, and help my clients out. This is the way I get a lot of my clients.

So, if you think you and I might be a good fit, if I can help you on the selling side, or if you’re just kind of maybe thinking about buying on Lake Martin, then I’d love to help you out. Please give me a call at the number on the top of this page. You can also reach me through my Contact Page or email. I look forward to hearing from you!

For more blogs about market reports on Lake Martin, visit the links listed below:

Lake Martin June 2025 Market

2024 Real Estate Sales

What’s the BAD SIDE of Lake Martin Alabama?