All property types sold in February 2010 totaled $24,183,890.  The same time period last year was $16,154,427.  That is an increase of 50%.  Average sale price was up as well an impressive $39%.

Cates auction is hosting a condo sales event March 6th 2010 and you should be aware of a few things if you are thinking of buying.   First of all, there is a buyer’s premium on every sale of 9%.  This is paid whether you use a buyer’s agent or not, this fee goes to Cates auction.  It cost you nothing to hire me as your buyer’s agent, but the savings could be huge or prevent you from overpaying at auction.  This auction is live at the Lake, bidders can also watch from KC, and people can bid online.  It is easy to get auction fever and overpay in that type of enviroment.  Cates is a first class operation, but be aware that they are highered by the seller to get the highest price possible.  Have an agent that is on your side that knows the Lake condo market. 

Only two units are absolute auctions.  The rest of the units will have a reserve.

LANDS’ END: Building F, Unit 626 (1215 Lands End Pkwy, Osage Beach)

THE RESIDENCES OF REGENT PLACE: Unit 201 (2558 Bagnell Dam Blvd, Lake Ozark)

ATLANTIS ISLAND: Unit N505 (64 Knox Rd, Neptune Bldg., Rocky Mount)

ATLANTIS ISLAND: Unit V405 (64 Knox Rd, Venus Bldg., Rocky Mount)

PLAZA GARDENS: Unit 2A (248 Plaza Gardens, Camdenton) Absolute Auction – No Minimum Bid!

PLAZA GARDENS: Unit 2B (248 Plaza Gardens, Camdenton) Absolute Auction – No Minimum Bid!

Hire me to be your buyer’s agent if you are serious about purchasing one of these units.  It cost you nothing but gains you 15 years of Lake of the Ozarks condo selling experience. 

573-480-6420 or john@lakerealestatepros.com

My new real estate company is called Lake Real Estate Pros.   Maybe I took the Warren Buffet quote that everyone loves nowdays that says ““… be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful” a bit too seriously.   After 10 year at RE/MAX Lake of the Ozarks, it was time to make this move.   Lake Real Estate Pros is located across from JB Hooks on Bagnell Dam Blvd.   The address is 2221 Bagnell Dam Blvd Ste 400, Lake Ozark MO 655049.  John Garrett can be reached at 573-480-6420.

Lake Of the Ozarks Condominium sales increased 171%! November condo sales were $6,065,641 versus $2,235,075 the same period last year! If you are thinking of buying, now is the time before these prices start their rebound. There are still plenty of deals, but this increase in sales will start to mean sales comparables will increase and prices will trend upward

Those of you who purchased in the last year, great job fining those hot deals.

You never know until you can look back at historical data to see when the bottom of a market was, but look at this graph.

Not sure what you are looking at?  The dark blue represents 2008 condo sales by # of sales, the teal color represents this years sales.  If you put them end to end, you would see a rather large dip in sales starting last June (2008) through July of 2009.  In Fact, October 2009 is the first month in some time that saw an increase in sales and volume over the previous year.   Very interesting.   

The Lake of the Ozarks real estate market is blessed to not have the problems on the scale that many areas do.   This list is not widely know to agents, I know to check it on occasion, but it is a cumbersome process.   

http://www.justice.gov/dea/seizures/missouri_pg1.html

From the DEA, these are the homes listed as meth houses.  They could have been cleaned up, torn down, not cleaned up correctly, but at least we know where they are.  BTW, these can be great deals for investors to buy and properly clean up as rentals, it just must be (and should be) disclosed that the home was formerly a meth house.   This disclosure is forever from what I have been told. 

http://methlabhomes.com/

The number of sales for 2009 YTD compared to 2008 shows a decrease in the number of sales from 499 to 369, or 26%.  Sales volume is off 35% YTD.  The price per square foot has dropped 12%.

The good news?  Condo sales the last half of this year were actually stronger towards the second half of the season, and in 2008 condos sales were more weighted towards the spring buying months.  The biggest hole in our sales occurred between May 1st of 2008 to May 1st 2009.  A sign that this market has bottomed?  Could be, only time will tell. 

Search Lake of the Ozarks real estate

Click to see Osage Beach Condos for sale

Easy search map shows condominiums for sale in Osage Beach, and you can change any criteria to modify your search.  If you have any questions feel free to contact me. 

Everyone likes to say we have too many condos for sale at the Lake of the Ozarks.   The truth is there are 1312 condos for sale as of today, down from a high of over 1600 units in 2006.

We need more buyers, but it really isn’t an  oversupply problem.   It looks like a demand problem. 

Toad Cove

The entire property at Toad Cove including the 116 room luxury hotel has been turned over to a management company (i.e. bankruptcy for the developer) and will remain open and operated for the bank.   Several banks were participating, but Valley View Bank was the lead lender on the project.  

The concept of the full service “condo-tel”  was probably a bit premature for this market, it’s hard to justify paying $350,000 for a fancy hotel suite when our local MLS is loaded with very nice 3 and 4 bedroom condos that are twice the size for much less.  Add to this low demand the severe lending restrictions on “condo-tels” and this was inevitable.   There was nothing wrong with the product, it was promised to be first class and it was.  Timing, as they say, is everything.