LAKE MILTON — A nearly $3 million lakefront home has been listed during a period of growth for the Milton Township community as it develops more into a retreat as outside buyers from areas such as Cleveland and Pittsburgh reshape the shoreline.

The 5,500-square-foot property, one of the area’s earliest upscale builds from 2008, features I-beams, rebar and expansive decks. Listing agent Matthew Heikkinen of NextHome Go30 Realty said sellers have chosen this moment after keeping close monitoring of the post-2020 price surges.

“They were watching that, and, you know, it just continued to go up,” Heikkinen said.

Comparable sales show the momentum. Heikkinen noted that a Northeast River Road home sold in August for $2.1 million, equating to $653 per square foot, while another fetched $1.43 million in under 40 days.

At $533 per square foot, the agency’s current listing undercuts recent per-foot rates but accounts for its larger scale.

“It’s because ours is bigger, so the more square footage you have, it kind of skews it a little bit lower,” Heikkinen said.

Replacement costs have ballooned, with site work alone — excavation, boulder walls and seawalls — running $100,000 to $400,000 before groundbreaking. Lots that sold for $36,000 two decades ago now start at half a million.

“You’re going to spend more than likely six figures to get the land ready,” Heikkinen said.

The buyer pool has expanded beyond locals, drawing second-home owners from a two-and-a-half-hour radius who value unrestricted boating.

“Any type of boat you want, any type of engine power you want,” Heikkinen said.

Dan Dahl, Heikkinen’s broker and firm owner, said that recreational lakes across Ohio have surged in popularity over the past decade, with Lake Milton’s revival dating back further.

“Lake Milton was like, when I was a kid, was drained. They drained it. It was no longer going to be a lake,” Dahl said, explaining how the Ohio Department of Natural Resources took over and refilled it.

He credits ODNR for enabling development through permits for docks and seawalls, unlike the restrictions Dahl said exist at nearby Berlin Reservoir.

“They maintain a level of the water, meaning, go out there and you can, you know, as long as there’s sunshine, you’re gonna run your boat,” Dahl said.

Berlin, as a flood-control lake, sees fluctuating levels that limit boating, keeping values from climbing as steeply.

“The prices have skyrocketed on Berlin … but not to the tune of Milton, because Berlin is a flood-control lake,” Dahl said.

Commercial upgrades are trailing the housing influx, including a multimillion-dollar golf course revamp and restaurants shifting to premium offerings.

“Somebody bought them $30 million into it, which I think is going to be absolutely a catalyst to help spur the already growth that we see out,” Dahl said of the golf course.

He anticipates more off-water projects restarting, boosting commercial options for residents and visitors.

“There’s some projects that were started a few years ago and get off the ground for whatever reason that I know. … They’ve been sold to some investors that I think you’re going to grow those give new life,” Dahl said.

Yet rising values risk displacing residents. Mahoning County’s reassessment in three to four years will incorporate these sales, potentially tripling taxes on modest properties.

“It’s going to bring up the values of all the … normal people, the blue-collar, middle-class people,” Heikkinen said.

Longtime resident Matt Clupper, selling his 2018-built home to downsize and winter in Florida, cites fixed-income constraints.

“Our two incomes (are) not going to match … what’s going on there with the taxes and everything else,” Clupper said.

He anticipates the area favoring affluent seasonal visitors.

Clupper, who built before the peak boom, remembers the days easier permitting then but sees stricter rules now, alongside escalating costs. “Things don’t get cheaper; they get more expensive,” he said.

Despite the changes, he views them positively but notes the pace doesn’t suit his timeline.