Huletts was a busy place in 2022. Things started to return to normal after Covid-19. While all the major media outlets are recapping the big events of the past year, I like to move into the new year by taking one last look back at what I consider the top “news” story of Huletts Landing from this past year. This year a phenomenon happened which many didn’t notice at first, but when I thought about it, was in my opinion, the biggest story of the year.
So for 2022 the top “news” story of the year for me was that property values and sales of real estate reached record highs on Lake George and in Huletts Landing. I’ll try to explain my rationale for picking this as the top story.
I’ve known for some years by the number of calls many receive from realtors, who are looking for listings, that demand for property on Lake George has been increasing. However, 2022 was a year like none before. I had heard anecdotally during the summer (but have no way to confirm this) that over 4,000 potential buyers were scouring the Lake George basin looking for homes to purchase and there were only approximately 100 for sale.
Those types of numbers, if accurate, would lead to an explosion of real estate prices. That is what seems to have occurred. There were a only a few sales that took place locally but many of those were done without even the properties being listed for sale. The prices for real estate all around Lake George and including Huletts Landing surged in 2022. A number of factors are contributing to this – the beauty of the lake, a scarcity of developable land, strong environmental regulations, many large parcels being preserved from any development whatsoever, and last but not least – people recognizing that there really isn’t any other place like Lake George.
This has other effects: those owning lake front property saw their tax assessments rise, those renting property saw rental rates increase, and with more expensive carrying costs for ownership of land – prices for everything in the basin will most likely go up.
So for 2022 the top “news” story of the year was property values and sales of real estate reached record highs on Lake George and in Huletts Landing.
So if you have children who may want to own a home on or near Lake George someday, make sure they’re doing their homework and getting along with the neighbors. Prices don’t seem like they will be coming down anytime soon.
Happy New Year and on to 2023!