Big Canoe Community Remains a Popular Choice for Second Home Buyers
Over the past weekend, we had several calls from clients looking for second homes or “weekenders” as we like to call them. We also had a few clients looking over our Big Canoe real estate listings that were to be used for their primary residence. Considering the different ways in which these two groups of clients intended to use their homes made me wonder about the types of buyers attracted to Big Canoe. Is Big Canoe becoming a community of full time residents? Or, is Big Canoe more of a destination for people to get away to the quiet solitude of their weekend retreat?
Obviously, the title of this article answers the question…in part. There are many residents here in Big Canoe that make the community their full-time residence (myself included). On the flip side, many folks own homes in Big Canoe which they strictly use as “weekenders” or as a second home. Many of these homeowners also rent to vacationers. The rental market is very active with Big Canoe rentals ranging from $150 per night to over $900 per night. So how is the current market divided? What are Buyers looking for, second homes or a full-time residence?
I pulled some data off of FMLS (the main listing agency that serves Big Canoe) to help figure these questions out. First, let me define what I call a “weekender” vs a full-time home in terms of price. Based on our clients, most of the homes our company, IBA Mountain Homes, has sold over the past three years that were under $450,000 were to be used as second homes or weekenders. The homes over $450,000 were to be mostly used as full-time homes. I am aware that there is some play in these numbers, but overall, it is pretty good estimation.
Resale Homes in 2006
- 68% of the home resales in Big Canoe were under $450,000
- Average price of this group was $303,993
Resale Homes in 2007
- 64% of the home resales in Big Canoe were under $450,000
- Average price of this group was $310,436
Resale Homes in 2008 (through 4/15)
- 68% of the home resales in Big Canoe were under $450,000
- Average price of this group was $319,323
The numbers appear to be quite consistent over the past three years. If you use my price based definition of a “weekender” or second home, roughly 67% of the home resales in Big Canoe have been purchased for this type of use. The consistency of the numbers is what really struck me as interesting. To me, it’s nice to see that the character of Big Canoe is not making vast changes with the nationwide dip in the real estate market. In fact, it seems reassuringly stable, a characteristic that I hope the community retains for many years to come.
April 15th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Hi Dan,
Thanks so much for the interesting article and statistics on BC home sales. I think your analysis of weekender vs. full time home price ranges is pretty accurate.
Although, there are those exceptions where very high-priced homes are purchased as second homes as well. A prime example is the home that we have just listed–3435 White Aster Lane. This home was the award-winning favorite of the 2005 Big Canoe “Street of Dreams,” and most of the Street of Dreams homes sold fully furnished in the million dollar range as second homes.
Thank you for consolidating this information that both full time and parttime residents and buyers will find useful as well as interesting.
Margo Vallone
Mountain Home Resales
April 15th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Thanks for commenting Margo. You are absolutely right that more than a few of the higher priced homes in Big Canoe are purchased as second homes. I wonder if the Southern Living home on Skyline is going to be used as a primary home or as a “weekender”!
May 8th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Dan,
I can answer that question for you. My wife and I are presently under contract to purchase the home and we do indeed plan on using it as our primary residence. It is too beautiful to not be enjoyed “full time”. We look forward to the transition from “weekenders” to “allweekers”.
Frank Duffy
DuffyRealtyofAtlanta.com
May 8th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Hi Frank,
We know your future home well and wish you the very best! Thank you for posting and hope to hear more from you!
May 8th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Frank -
Congrats to you and your wife! Thanks for taking time to post a comment. A hot topic around our house is the evolution of the real estate market -something that I think you both are very in touch with.
For those of you that don’t know, Duffy Realty really changed the landscape of the real estate market in the Atlanta metro area. We’d love to have you post a guest blog on this, and tell us more about your business model.
Thanks again for stopping by, welcome to the year-round community, and I hope to have you comment again soon!
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