Grand Traverse Bay Values

Recently I was having a conversation with an appraiser from the Grand Traverse Bay area. In our conversation, I asked him “Generally, how would you place a value on land with water frontage on the Grand Traverse Bay?” I found his answer very interesting, so thought I would share some of his insight with you.

The west arm of the bay is deeper and wider, making it more desirable and popular, so on the on the average there we see land values between $3,000 and $5,000 per front foot. If the building site and the actual lakefront are on the opposite side of the road from each other, we tend to value that in half.

On the east arm of the bay is a little less popular. The water depths are shallower, and with the Lake Michigan water levels being down, some of the properties have deeper depths to the lots with the receding lakeshore. Because of these factors, we see values ranging between $2,000 and $4,000 per front foot. As on the west arm of the bay, if the property is across the road from the actual lake frontage, the value would be cut in half.

One thing he said that I thought was interesting, was that as some areas across the state were reporting some decline in value, the Grand Traverse Bay area is generally still appreciating in value. As a rule, quality properties will hold their value during difficult economic times.