Lake view lots worth more than homes on golf course

Lakefront lots sell at a higher premium than lots with golf course views, a recent study shows.

The Appraisal Journal, a quarterly technical and academic publication of the Appraisal Institute, released the study this week.

The authors investigated the pricing of golf course, mountain view and lake view lots at The Reserve at Lake Keowee in South Carolina. Lake Keowee is a 3,900-acre lakeside golf course community development with approximately 600 lots sold between January 2000 and December 2008 at a total price of close to $200 million. 

“The slope of a lot, length of shoreline and proximity to the lakeside village were also found to be statistically significant variables influencing the value of the property,” the authors reported.

This is the first academic study on the subject. The authors, David Wyman and Stephen Sperry, used GIS analysis of the development, and found that price premiums ranged from 124 percent to 287 percent for lakefront lots, from 94 percent to 133 percent for lake view lots and from 42 percent to 85 percent for lots with golf course views. The authors also found that even after the housing bubble burst, lakefront lots continued to sell and in fact sold at increasing prices.

To read the study — “The Million Dollar View” — in the Spring issue of The Appraisal Journal,go to http://lumlibrary.org/webpac/pdf/TAJ2010/MillionDollarView.pdf