Les Cheneaux Market Report—December 2025

Season’s Greetings from Cedarville!

It has been a snowy start to the winter, and the winter sports enthusiasts are gearing up for a “throwback” year!  Now that the dust has pretty much settled in terms of real estate sales for this year, I thought it would be interesting to see how 2025 compared to the last two years in regard to waterfront sales.

As you can see in the table above, waterfront sales have been trending downward in the last two years.  While some might say this points to weakness in the waterfront market, I have a theory that might shed some light on these figures.

The reality is that a lot of the cottages in this community that were built in the ’60s and ’70s have become obsolete because of either outdated design or poor condition.  As a result, some buyers have shifted toward vacant land purchases.

While cottage purchases are down, the number of lot sales and building permits issued the last two years are up—proving that waterfront investment has not decreased as much as the figures suggest, but rather that the type of investment has changed.

YouTube Video on Les Cheneaux Cottage Design

I had the pleasure of filming the exterior of several area cottages this past October, as part of a video for my YouTube channel analyzing cottage design in the Les Cheneaux Islands. The places I visited for the video are pictured in the banner of this month’s newsletter!

If you enjoy learning about the design traits that make this community distinctive, you can link to the full video here!

Les Cheneaux Islands Waterfront Report: August 2025

It’s hard to believe we’re already past boat show weekend, but here we are! There have been some interesting developments since the last report I did at the start of summer, so I thought I’d highlight a few things.

1. Surplus of Waterfront Lots Available: There are some nice waterfront lots with dock-able waterfront available in Cedarville, both island and mainland. Given the lack of opportunity for these types of lots in past years, I’m a bit surprised more haven’t gotten accepted deals. There are a couple nice ones on Island 8, and also another quality mainland lot adjacent to Islington Point.

2. Longer Days on Market for Waterfront Homes: While the cottage inventory has not improved dramatically this year, there have been some quality places that have listed on both the mainland and islands. Several of them have very desirable features and locations, however, they are not finding immediate success with buyers. This is reflective of a trend we saw going back to last year, where the waterfront market has reverted to a more traditional one, with the majority of sales happening in the late summer or fall.

In light of the relative surplus of lots and cottages we have available compared to the past few years, I could see an advantageous landscape for buyers this fall. Add to the mix that mortgage rates just hit their lowest point since October ’24, and you can easily see how buyers may be incentivized to purchase.

Les Cheneaux Islands Waterfront Report: June 2025

The summer season is off to a fast start in Les Cheneaux with three waterfront properties accepting offers in the last 30 days.  One of these properties was quite unique for the area—over 1000 ft. of waterfront in Mackinac Bay and 57 acres total.  It’s just vacant land at present, but with such extensive waterfront and acreage, there are many routes the new owner can take with the property.

Additionally, a very attractive cottage at 1478 Dumler Ln (off of Lakeside in Cedarville) also accepted an offer.  As is typically the case with more modern cottages with updated interior features that are well built, the cottage on Dumler did not make it very long into this season before accepting an offer.

The final cottage is located on Mckay Bay and has shallower waterfront that is not ideal for docking.  However, this recent activity among a wide array a property types is another example of this community’s attractiveness to waterfront buyers.

Address

Listing Price

Under Contract Date
57 Acres Mackinac Bay $650,000 5/23/2025
1478 Dumler Ln. $875,000 5/2/2025
3606 M-134 (Mckay Bay) $349,000 5/29/2025