So buying a place, even a humble one with only 1,200 square feet and two bedrooms, can reach well into the six figures. The affordable cottage here is nearly gone, said Mike Brown of the Remerica North Country realty agency in Traverse City. People from downstate and out of state have more discretionary income and can buy a lot more than the local working people. I definitely think the little cottage here is history. At the same time, there s hardly anything available on Green Lake, Crystal Lake, Lake Leelanau or Torch and that s why prices are going up so much, he said.
Demand is far greater than supply.
Indeed, the supply of traditional cottages on inland lakes is actually shrinking. As for something on the big lakes, demand is so strong that what really counts is the land, not the structures on it, unless they are recently built and large. The same goes for the larger and most popular inland lakes. Nobody is building new seasonal cottages, said Hank Ramsby and other builders. The pressures on waterfront property owners to sell are enormous.