Now that bike week has past, the NASCAR race is over, and the July 4th holiday is here, hopefully the vacation home buyers will be out in force looking for their little piece of the Lakes Region over the coming few months. Many second home buyers tend to look in the gated, water access communities of South Down Shores and Long Bay. And why shouldn’t they? It’s the perfect place to start any vacation home search. Located three miles north of downtown Laconia on Parade Road, this wonderfully conceived 260 acre complex has a mixture of eighteen different condominium villages, each with its own unique architecture and appeal, as well as free standing single family homes. Prices range from below $200,000 for some entry level condos to the high six digits for some fantastic water-view single family homes.

Residency here means access to the extraordinary amenities that South Down offers. Along the 4,000 feet of shorefront on Lake Winnipesaukee there is a beautiful sandy beach, a beach house, a sand volleyball court, a playground, beautifully landscaped green spaces, plenty of Adirondack chairs to lounge in, and walking trails. The South Down Boat Club has 40 boat slips and 40 moorings along with over 200 dry berths. Other amenities here include tennis courts, basketball courts, a skating pond, and walking/cross country trails. And a few of the condominium villages even have their own private pools.

At the far end of South Down is the Long Bay community which encompasses a total area of approximately 100 acres of land and offers high quality, unique, single family homes. Architecture varies dramatically in Long Bay with the homes projecting the builder’s or homeowner’s individuality and taste. There are stunning water views from many of the homes looking out over the 1,500 feet of shorefront of Paugus Bay. Amenities in Long Bay include the beach, tennis courts, boat docking, walking trails, a club house, plus a beautiful pool overlooking the bay. Kind of like an all inclusive vacation resort right in the heart of the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. Most homes here are re-sales and are on the higher end of the pricing spectrum, but new construction in the Willow Pond section is available and starts at a remarkably low price of $279,900. Access to these communities is restricted so you must contact your REALTOR® to give you the nickel tour and view the properties.

There are 1223 residential homes available as of July 1 in the Lakes Region communities listed in this report. That total is up from last month’s total of 1170 but just slightly below last July’s total of 1227. Unfortunately, these 1223 homes represent a 22 month supply of inventory currently on the market which is about three times what is considered a normal, healthy inventory level. The high inventory level is not very good if you are selling your home, but it is great for anyone out looking to buy. There’s a lot to choose from and some pretty good bargains out there, too. In fact, I bet your REALTOR® could find you two fantastic deals to buy at the same time! Maybe if everyone did that it would help us get the inventory level back down to normal!

Residential Homes for Sale July 2009

Report covers the towns of Alton, Barnstead, Belmont, Center Harbor, Gilford, Gilmanton, Laconia, Meredith, Moultonborough, New Hampton, Sanbornton, and Tilton. Compiled from the NNEREN MLS System.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 3rd, 2009 at 5:14 pm and is filed under Lakes Region Home, Market Report Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.