By: Mike Kennedy mkennedy@railey.com 301-616-6106 May 29th, 2008 Category: Garrett County News

After nearly 3 years of being under contract, the real estate developer who builds most of the Lowe’s Home Improvement Centers has finally closed on 23 acres of real estate just north of Oakland, Maryland on Route 219. Building crews have already started preparing the site for excavation and completion of the Lowe’s store is expected by Thanksgiving 2008. The 23 acres will also include 6 out parcels in front of the store along Rt. 219 whose use and occupants have yet to be determined.

It will be interesting to see what the eventual impact Lowe’s will have on Garrett County, Maryland as a whole and other related industries in this county such as real estate. With more competition  - will the cost to build a new home in Garrett County or at Deep Creek Lake go down any? Lowe’s will almost certainly put price pressure on the other suppliers of building materials in the area.

Will Lowe’s cause any existing businesses to eventually shut down? Maybe - but probably not. When Walmart moved to Garrett County earlier this decade the only big name company to go out of business was the local Food Lion grocery store. However, like Wal-mart - Lowe’s will probably cause sales to slow down or even decrease at some local businesses who sell the same products.

Many had predicted that Lowe’s would eventually land here in Garrett County as they tend to follow Wal-mart. Many citizens of the county were concerned before Wal-mart moved here and rightly so - this area had never experienced life with a big box retailer. The Wal-mart effect on Garrett County has been both good and bad - but mostly good. Bad in a way that it has certainly hurt some local family owned businesses - but good in a way that Wal-mart is now one of the area’s largest employers providing steady jobs with benefits to an area that certainly needs it - and also providing lower prices to local citizens. Overall most would say Wal-mart has had a positive impact - hopefully in the long run Lowe’s will be another asset to the county.

By: Mike Kennedy mkennedy@railey.com 301-616-6106 May 27th, 2008 Category: Deep Creek Lake Market Update, Deep Creek Lake Real Estate

A few weeks ago I was interviewed by a writer at the Washington Times for an article she was researching about vacation homes markets and my take about what is currently happening in the Deep Creek Lake real estate market. Last Friday, that article appeared on the Washington Times website - you can read the article by clicking here.

Other Resort Markets

After reading the article it’s interesting to note what a few real estate professionals are saying about other resort markets. A realtor who in works in the Rehoboth and Dewey Beach Delaware market stated the psychology of that market has changed slightly - but that long term prices should continue to rise. And a National Association of Realtors (NAR) spokesperson stated that their research has indicated that speculative buying behavior in resort markets have dropped back down to more historical norms.

Deep Creek Lake Real Estate Market

The current state of the Deep Creek Lake Maryland market is somewhat similar to what is going on in other vacation homes markets - which is that speculative buyers have seemed to decline but prices have continued to rise. Don’t get me wrong, there are still speculative buyers in our market right now - but the number of buyers looking to make a quick profit or flip a piece of property have steadily decreased over the past year or so. We have also seen a decrease in the number of buyers who were stretching themselves financially or had to rent heavily to buy in our market as well. Losing those two types of buyers has certainly contributed to the decease in the total amount of sales at Deep Creek Lake.

But We Still Have Plenty of Buyers…

What the Deep Creek Lake market didn’t lose coming off of our boom years were those buyers looking to buy a vacation home for their family and who also have the financial means to make such a purchase. That segment of buyers, which has traditionally made up a majority of our market, are still very much around and are still very much buying second homes at Deep Creek Lake and the Wisp Ski Resort. The continued demand by this segment has driven up prices and values in our market even though other areas have seen price declines.

Strong Fundamentals

While we’ll probably not see the high appreciation rates witnessed during our boom years just a few short years ago when speculators and flippers were everywhere - the good news is that the fundamentals are solid for future appreciation in this market. Demographic models show that the number of vacation homes purchased in the near future is expected to increase - this coupled with a low inventory of quality lakefront, lake access, and lake area homes should result in steady price appreciation at Deep Creek Lake. The entire shoreline around Deep Creek Lake is almost fully developed now - it will be almost impossible to ever have a large inventory of lakefront or lake access homes in this market in the future. If you plan on buying real estate at Deep Creek Lake in the next year or two it may be a great benefit to buy now - while prices aren’t rising quite as dramatically and while the speculators and flippers are still sitting on the sidelines - in the long run you’ll probably come out way far ahead.

By: Mike Kennedy mkennedy@railey.com 301-616-6106 May 16th, 2008 Category: Deep Creek Lake Real Estate

In the midst of up and down real estate news, Deep Creek Lake stands out as a spot of sunshine in a rainy spring. 

Yes, the number of properties sold in Garrett County, Western Maryland is down from 2007 - but not like other markets who are reporting sales down by as much as half, a third, or even 20%!  And remarkably, our prices are stable and even up.  Closing average prices over the last 4 months have been up by as much as 10%!  (Statistics based on Residential Sales closing prices as determined by MRIS-regional multiple listing service). 

Choices abound in this market-lakefront, lake access, lake view or secluded, wooded properties.  Sellers are more flexible.  Serious sellers are studying the market and pricing their properties sensibly after consulting with their Realtor®.  Many incentives make the homes even more attractive.  Something else to consider:  If you have fallen in love with a property that “needs some work”, licensed contractors are more readily available, too.  With less new construction, crews are not working multiple sites, and can devote more time and attention to your project.

Interest rates are still low-below 6% in many cases.

If you are looking at a second home as an investment-if you plan to rent it out to vacationers for the present, rentals are up in Deep Creek lake area.  Local rental offices are looking for additional properties to add to their rolls.   And if this will be simply your lake home, many homes are sold fully furnished-even in new construction.  So you can have immediate use of your new home.

This current market provides the best opportunity to find the exact home you have been looking for.  And Deep Creek Lake has so many of the details that you have been looking for.  And the activities are increasing each season. 

Why wait? Call or e-mail us today!?

By: Mike Kennedy mkennedy@railey.com 301-616-6106 May 14th, 2008 Category: Community Profiles

The Blakeslee has been considered one of the premier neighborhoods at Deep Creek Lake for a long time now. Orginally developed in the late 80’s and early 90’s this neighborhood consists of 38 lakefront homes and 61 lake access homes/building lots. Of the 99 lots that were originally sold, all but 10 have houses on them now. The Blakeslee was named after the family who originally owned the large tract of land that now makes up the neighborhood.

Consisting of many high-end homes on wooded lots, this community is one of the few around Deep Creek Lake that has an indoor pool and community center. Other amenities include two tennis courts, a full size basketball court, kid’s playground, soccer field, and numerous trails which can be used for hiking, mountain biking, ATV’s, or snowmobiles. All the roads in the Blakeslee are private roads (Middleton Road, Thornberry Road, Sorbus Lane, North Blakeslee Road, and South Blakeslee Road) making it very nice to take a walk or ride a bike around the neighborhood.

The mix in the neighborhood consists of many vacation and second homeowners who only use their house on the weekends and during the summer - but their is a large percentage of owners who are full time residents of Deep Creek Lake and Garrett County as well.

If you are interested in purchasing real estate or a house for sale in this Deep Creek Lake neighborhood please click here for a current inventory of available homes and lots for sale.

By: Mike Kennedy mkennedy@railey.com 301-616-6106 May 1st, 2008 Category: Deep Creek Lake Market Update

The first quarter of 2008 is officially in the books for the Deep Creek Lake real estate market. Not to anyone’s surprise the first quarter of this year was a lot like the first quarter in 2007. All market signals are starting to point that 2008 will be a lot like 2007 - which was slight decrease or stable amount of transactions the rest of the year - but overall modest appreciation gains for most property owners. In 2007 things started off slow like this year but really picked up during our traditionally strong selling season of June, July, and August. A quick summary of the market is below;

Homes Sold

Thru the first quarter of 2008, 34 homes in the Deep Creek Lake area have sold with an average sold price of $637,929 - this compares to 37 homes sold in the first quarter of 2007 with an average sold price of $537,565 - a difference of only 3 homes.  These homes include all lakefront, lake access, and lake area homes.

Lots/Land

 Thu the first quarter of 2008, 18 lots have sold in the Deep Creek Lake area broken down as follows - 1 lakefront lot, 6 lake access lot, and 11 lake area lots. This compares to 21 lots sold in 2007 - 0 lakefront lots, 4 lake access lots, and 17 lake area lots.

Contracts

Currently, there are 17 residential properties under contract - 7 lakefront homes, 4 lake access homes, 2 homes a top Wisp Ski Resort, and  4 lake area homes. The highest demand thus far this year has been the higher-end lakefront homes with good settings - private Type A dock, deep water, good views, wooded, with a newer home.

 Future Factors

There are some factors on the horizon that could make the demand stronger for real estate at Deep Creek Lake and Garrett County for the rest of the year. These include;

• More vacation rentals already booked for the 2008 summer season. Some renters turn into buyers - or most renters will go back home and tell their friends, familiy, and neigbors what a great place Deep Creek Lake is. That usually spurs more people to explore real estate opportunities in this market.
• Interest rates continue to remain relatively low. Jumbo loan rates as of today are still in the mid-to low 6% range - still very low historically speaking.
•  Continued improvements to the area. A few new restaurants should be open before the start of the summer and the proposed Aqua Mountain indoor waterpark is still in the works even though plans have not yet been finalized and construction is not yet guaranteed.