Yes, there really is a lake and a town in Minnesota named after a ham hock. It will probably not come as a surprise that the unique Ham Lake name wasn't the first choice by the settler's to the area. Incorporated in 1974, Ham Lake became a city after over a hundred years of humble but steady growth. The area was first settled in 1855 by a group of Scottish men on the southwest side of Ham Lake. The original name of the community was Glen Carey, which is the Scottish translation of "beautiful valley". Following a prairie fire in 1857, the first settlers moved but the community was resettled again. The new Scandinavian settlers had a hard time with the pronunciation of Glen Carey and soon the fledging community was known as Ham Lake...most probably because the lake in the area has a unique "ham-hock" shape. Anoka County officially was recognized Ham Lake as a township in 1871. In the early 1900's Central Avenue (Highway 65) was a slow commute as it was a wagon trail through the sand and swampland. And we think going through stop light after stop light slows traffic. Though it was graveled and paved at some point, it 1954 before was expanded to four lanes.
Those four lanes are in full use now as people continue look at acreage, executive, luxury, hobby farms, lakeshore and even entry level starter homes in the Ham Lake area. The real estate market remains sluggish in Ham Lake, MN like many other Anoka County communities, but a number of homes are selling. There are bright spots across the board with homes selling in all price categories under $400,000. Not only have there been a significant number of closed sales during the quarter, there still are a large number of existing single family homes in pending with scheduled upcoming closing dates. However, new construction sales are still slow to move with only a handful of closed sales in the second quarter. This is an improvement from the zero homes sold in the first quarter of 2009. The average Cumulative Days-on-Market (CDOM) is down a bit from first quarter in Ham Lake but still at 202 days it is taking longer to sell a home than in 2008 when the CDOM was at 158. These numbers will tend to be skewed for sometime as we work through the sales of homes that sat on the market for well over a year.
Inventory is down in Ham Lake from the levels seen in 2008 but has taken a jump in the spring and summer months. No doubt lakeshore home sellers have jumped back in to the market as there is nothing as picturesque as a Minnesota lake in the spring and summer months. There are currently 133 homes active on the market compared to 110 at the beginning of January. Homes continue to take months to sell as there still seems to be more Ham Lake homes on the market than Ham Lake buyers. Homeowners considering selling a home in the Ham Lake area must consider the average time to sell a home in the Twin Cities north metro is approximately 6-8 months. Right now inventory levels indicate there is about 24 months of inventory. Having a good price strategy for your home and being prepared for showings is crucial for anyone planning to sell a home in this Anoka County community in 2009.
2nd Quarter 2009 Ham Lake residential real estate statistics for single family homes:
Under $200,000~ 29 Active Listings, 12 Pending Listings, 13 Sold Listings, CDOM 196 (All existing homes)
$200,000-300,000 ~ 38 Active Listings, 8 Pending Listings, 14 Sold Listings, CDOM 192 (New Construction Subgroup ~ 2 Active, 1 Pending, 2 Sold, CDOM 15)
$300,000-400,000 ~ 37 Active Listings, 3 Pending Listings, 4 Sold Listings, CDOM 175 (New Construction Subgroup ~ 6 Active, 1 Pending, 0 Sold)
$400,000-$500,000 ~ 13 Active Listings, 1 Pending Listings, 0 Sold Listings (New Construction Subgroup ~ 3 Active, 0 Pending, 0 Sold)
$500,000 and Up~ 16 Active Listings, 1 Pending Listings, 2 Sold Listings, CDOM 366 (New Construction Subgroup ~ 3 Active, 1 Pending, 1 Sold, CDOM 586)
Lakeshore available in the City of Ham Lake
6 Active ListingsHam Lake lakeshore price range: $185,000-$950,000
- 6 Homes on Coon Lake
- 1 Home on Lake Netta
- 1 Home on Ham Lake
- 3 Homes on Little Coon Lake
Copyright 2009 Teri Eckholm http://www.terieckholm.com/
