Brandon Nelson
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Lake Whatcom Waterfront Home Sales
It’s a dream of mine to live with my family in a waterfront home on Lake Whatcom. I LOVE Lake Whatcom. I’ve paddled every inch of its shoreline many, many times over (Heather and I call that 25+mile workout the “Big Banana!”)
Just this morning I started my day with a Sudden Valley to Bloedel Donovan Park downwinder on my stand-up paddleboard. As I reached the docks at Bloedel, the view back up the lake was dramatic with low, dark, racing storm clouds, white caps and the abandoned pilings from the lumber mill days rising out of the water. It was spectacular.
And equally spectacular are the houses that enjoy a front-row setting on the water’s edge. So what does it take to take ownership of one of these highly-desirable pieces of Bellingham real estate? Well, let’s check out the NWMLS and see…
Prices as of this post start at $519K for a “fixer upper” of just under 1200 square feet.
In Sudden Valley, your entry level is at $550K right now for a 4BR/2BA with 2400+ square feet. That one is also noted as a “Handyman Special!”
On the upper end of the price spectrum you can make a full price offer at $4.2 million for a near-10,000 square foot 6BR, 5.5BA home with double offices, a theatre, 900 square foot guest quarters and all on a .38 acre lot. Wow!
All told, there are 27 active Lake Whatcom waterfront listings and 3 pending, for a pending ratio of 10%. Average price is about $1.625 million, and that’ll get you about 3,400 square feet.
In the past 6 months, we’ve seen 15 closed sales with an average price of $844,600K — roughly HALF the average price for those actively listed home. Those closed sales had an average time on market of 218 days, and closed for an average of 94% of final list price. 8 of them dropped their price at least once before getting a sale.
Finally, in that same 6 month period, 16 listings either expired or cancelled without selling, so just slightly more than what sold. No question, the higher end homes (waterfront or not) have been a difficult sell in the recent past. It’s picked up, though. The preceeding 6 month period saw only 6 sales of Lake Whatcom Waterfront Homes, with an average sale price of just $692K.
If you’re interested in knowing where your waterfront home would fit into the market, give me a ring. Who knows… it may even be my family’s future dream home!
