Real Estate

[mcdude]

From the Citizen

Winni waterfront entices buyers $7.8m purchase sets record

Sunday, January 17, 2010

MEREDITH — Waterfront home sales in the Lakes Region increased dramatically in the last half of 2009 and were buoyed by the highest recorded property sale on Lake Winnipesaukee to date — a $7.8 million parcel on Meredith Bay.

Frank Roche, owner of Roche Realty Inc., based in Laconia and Meredith, said high-end waterfront home sales, especially on Lake Winnipesaukee, have been gaining momentum since August, the first upward trend since the housing market crashed.

According to figures from the New England Real Estate Network, 26 properties, each worth more than $1 million, sold on Lake Winnipesaukee during all of 2009, with 20 of those sales occurring during the last half of the year.

Roche said those numbers "indicated a substantial improvement in the market."

Roche Realty made a number of those sales, including the $7.8 million, highest-on-record sale on Lake Winnipesaukee.

The sale of the 8.3-acre property with a 1,500-square-foot beach on Meredith Bay was made in November by Roche Realty brokers John Goodhue, P.K. Zyla and Nancy Williams.

Goodhue said the property includes a stone boathouse, a primary residence and a stone and wrought iron wall.

"This is one of the finest parcels of land on Lake Winnipesaukee, with a huge sugar-sand beach offering dramatic views of the lake," Zyla said.

Roche said the property is unique and a similar stretch of beach on Meredith Bay, secluded but still close to restaurants, shops and other amenities, is hard to come by these days.

Roche said while the property is not the most expensive parcel on the lake, it is the only one that was recently for sale.

CLICK HERE for the rest of the article