Why Some Lake of the Isles Homes Sell in Weeks — and Others Sit for Years

By Brandyn Negri  ·  May 2026  ·  4 min read

In the City Lakes right now, value isn't moving as one market. A home priced between one and two million is selling in roughly two to three months — and in some neighborhoods, that's getting faster. Go up past three million, and a single home on the lake has been sitting for nearly three years. Same water. Same address everyone says they want.

The difference isn't the lake. It's how each home meets the market — and most sellers only ever see one of these two markets.

The market that's working

In the one-to-two-million range, homes are moving. In Kenwood, the average is down to about 62 days on market — more than 50% faster than a year ago. That's a market with real buyers and not enough homes to go around. When one comes on priced right, it moves.

The market that's stuck

Go higher and it changes completely. Above three million, homes can sit. The reason most won't say out loud: a lot of these sellers are still anchored to 2021 and 2022 — the peak. That number is stuck in their head, so that's where they list. And the market just doesn't agree.

You can put up a new house in a year. You can't put up a neighborhood.

What actually sells a home

There are only three things in play: price, condition, and location. Location you can't change — and on these lakes, it's already the best there is. That leaves price and condition, the two levers in your control. If a home is sitting, the market is telling you something about one of them.

And if you're a buyer? That stuck top end is your opening. Buy the location and the character — the part nobody can recreate — and remodel the rest on your terms.