The Winnipesaukee Tunnel Project

Residential home sales in our Lakes Region communities were not what I had hoped for in July. I was planning on a summer of love… real estate love, that is. Lots of sales, happy sellers, happy buyers. I was predicting, anticipating, and forecasting that we would have a month where sales would top 100 for the month. Nope, not in July. It is kind of like the national monthly job numbers; always coming in less than expected. The only good thing is our sales numbers don’t get revised downward even further the next month like the jobs numbers do. The 70 transactions last month do equal the total for July last year which is good, but the average sales price is down from $309,586 to $260,113 equaling about a 15% drop. That’s actually not too bad, but it didn’t meet expectations, as they say in Washington.

So, like any good politician (or real estate agent), I need to distract you from this somewhat uninspiring news and talk about something that takes your mind off the numbers. A good scandal always seems to work for the politicians, but I don’t want to mention what I may or may not know to be true about someone who is, or maybe is, involved in some hanky panky around here. Real estate agents aren’t that glamorous so that really wouldn’t work. Nobody would care. We need a John Edwards, Anthony Weiner, or a Mark Sanford to pull that off.

Maybe we should talk about a shovel ready public works project and creating jobs.



The Winnipesaukee Tunnel Authority has announced that it has met all of the NH DES environmental concerns and has received final permits for the 13 mile tunnel from Glendale Docks in Gilford to Wolfeboro Bay. The Governors Council as well as the governor’s office have already expressed their full support and blessing of this $2 billion dollar project which is expected to provide 650 jobs during construction and 24 full jobs upon completion.

Construction is anticipated to start in October of this year and is projected to be finished by September of 2015. It will utilize the latest tunneling technology and will feature a one mile section where the ceilings will be constructed of three foot thick glass to provide those passengers in convertibles or cars with sunroofs amazing views of the vast array of underwater life in Winnipesaukee. There will be one exit on the crossing for Rattlesnake Island.



It is expected that this tunnel will be an economic boon to area businesses and tourism in general. The word on the street is that if Governor Romney does win the White House this fall that the time line for completion will be significantly shortened due to an infusion of federal funds. It seems that Governor Romney likes to visit Sawyers Dairy Bar and the tunnel would significantly shorten the drive. Romney has also been seen frequenting Crazy Gringos in the Weirs. He is often mistaken for Clint Eastwood when he stands at the end of the bar wearing his sombrero and poncho. His favorite line in there is “Go ahead, make my day.”

The Winnipesaukee Tunnel Authority also has a plan in the works to connect Winnipesaukee to Winnisquam by the end of this decade. Investors are already speculating on Winnisquam property in anticipation this project’s completion and property values there are expected to soar.

Now back to reality. We didn’t make projections, but we might next month. Maybe, at least, I started a good rumor…