Holding steady on Wawasee

Lake Wawasee, the popular northern Indiana getaway for some of the wealthiest people in the Indianapolis area, is doing
fairly well despite the real estate bust.

Realtors note the number of sales is down, but that prices are holding
fairly steady—much better than around the Fort Myers, Fla., area, another popular spot for locals.

Rick Pinney,
who has been selling waterfront houses on Wawasee for nearly 40 years, says it’s hard to get an accurate read on price
trends because so few sales have taken place. Occasionally a property sells for 10 percent to 20 percent less than the asking
price, but they tend to be properties where the owner, perhaps an elderly person, wants to get out quickly.

Taken
as a whole, the median price on waterfront property is down 5 percent to 10 percent, he says. Listing prices haven’t
budged; one came on the market recently for nearly $5 million.

“People are expecting for the most part the
same price as they would in ’06,” Pinney says.

What are your thoughts? Any other areas you’re
aware of where properties have held their values?