Business & Tech
Price is Right for Berkeley Lake Real Estate
The Berkeley Lake real estate market now favors buyers more than in recent history.
Some Berkeley Lake homeowners joke that they “circled the lake” for years before investing in the community’s real estate.
Ginny Nevins, broker/owner of Windsor Realty, said she lived and worked near the lakefront area for seven years before joining it a decade ago.
But Nevins said the current Berkeley Lake market is now more favorable to buyers than in any time in recent memory.
“It is an incredible time to buy on the lake – they will be kicking themselves right and left if they don’t,” she said.
A comparative market analysis of homes sold within the last year showed original list prices averaged $306,500 with list price lowered to an average of $261,000 in today’s market. Buyers were averaging sale prices of nearly $244,500.
The positive purchasing outlook results from a number of factors, not the least of which is the lowering of lake levels due to repairs needed at the dam. The diminished lake capacity has affected the property vales for some homes that are now no longer “lakefront properties.”
Additionally, Berkeley Lake is feeling the national sting of housing devaluation. Property value adjustments are factoring in foreclosed neighboring homes.
“When you’ve got foreclosures going on around you, it brings everybody’s values down,” Nevins said. “Peachtree Corners and Berkeley Lake were the last to fall when the values stared dropping. They held on the longest, and I feel they’ll be the first to return when things start charging back.”
Several buyers seeking Nevins’ assistance include Peachtree Corners residents looking for other homes now that their children have moved out. Others represent those locating to metro Atlanta for the first time.
Nevins said her selling clients are chiefly leasing their homes with plans to return to Berkeley Lake once their personal or professional obligations permit. Some others are leaving a home to buy another in the same area or buying an additional home as a future investment.
And while she senses some hesitation from outside buyers regarding the dam, homeowners are not leaving the city because of lake level concerns. Nevins believes the soon launch of actual dam repair work will boost the market.
“Those of us who have lived there and know the community have no fears or hesitations that the dam is going to be fixed, the lake will be back and the values will come back,” she added. “We know the community and we know the strength and belief we have in the community.”