Friday, May 27, 2011

2011 Weekly Real Estate Market Report

North Lake Tahoe-Truckee MLS
Week of:

May 16th to 22nd

Active Listings: The active inventory for residential and lot listings increased 6% from 1,592 the previous week to 1,681 active listings in the market; 1,165 residential properties and 515 lots and land listed for sale. As is typical in the spring, more homeowners begin to place their properties back on the market for the summer selling period.

REO-Short Sale Listings: Of the active listings, there are 159 properties listed as short sales, (9.5%) and 46 properties listed as an REO sale, (2.7%).

Months of Inventory: Based on the current inventory and sales for the previous 30-day period, the market has over 14-months of inventory available. The inventory of homes and land at today’s prices continues to favor the buyer interested in an investment property, vacation home or moving up to a larger home or better location.

Sales Summary: Year-To-Date
Total Sales 2011 Vs 2010:

Sales: For 2011, there have been 439 properties sold in the market as compared to 476 for the same period in 2010 which is an (7.8%) decrease in sales.

REO & Short Sales: Of the properties sold, 109 have been REO’s, (24.8%), and 62 have been Short Sales, (14.1%) which results in over 39% of the properties sold being a distressed property. In 2010 for the same period, there were 109 REO sales and 68 short sales or roughly 37% of the total sales.

Price Range: For the year, there have been 307 properties sold priced below $500,000, 102 properties sold between $500,000 and $1,000,000 and 30 properties sold over $1,000,000.

Median and Average Sales Prices: The median sales price for properties sold year to date is $360,000 while the average sales price is $470,985. For the same period in 2010, the median sales price was $400,000 and the average sales price was $524,100 which is an (10.0%) and (10.1%) decline in price respectively year over year.
Last Week’s Sales: For the week of May 16th a total of 23 properties sold which was up slightly from the previous week’s sales of 18 properties. Of the properties sold last week, none of the properties sold were priced over $750,000.
Pending Sales: Currently there are 184 pending sales in the market which is up 15% from the previous week. Of the pending sales, 17 are short sales and 32 are REO properties.


Market Activity Summary:

Overall sales year to date as compared to last year are down 7.8% from 476 sales in 2010 versus 439 sales in 2011. The drop off in sales has primarily occurred in the second quarter as the first quarter sales were slightly higher in 2011 than in 2010. While we would all like to see this trend reversed, there are some positive indicators on the horizon with a 15% increase in pending sales and a 6% increase in active listings in the market. Spring is underway and the summer is around the corner where more activity is anticipated.

The hottest segment of the market continues to be homes priced under $500,000 as roughly 70% or 307 properties have sold in this price range. Sales of homes priced above $1,000,000 continue to lag behind 2010 sales in this price range as 30 properties have sold year to date as compared to 47 properties last year which is a 36% drop. The mid range market sales, $500,000 to $1,000,000 are down as well from last year with 102 properties sold or 23% of the total sales as compared to 123 properties sold in 2010.
Distressed properties, REO and Short Sales represent 39% of the sales in the market which is almost identical to REO and Short sales in 2010. However, there is still considerable interest in non distressed properties as many are priced at levels that are too good to pass up.
Median sales prices have decreased by 10% to $360,000 while the average sales prices have also decreased by 10% to $524,100. While other parts of California are reporting median prices stabilizing or increasing slightly, that is not the case thus far in the Tahoe-Truckee market.

All in all, with the existing inventory levels, the lower median and average sales prices, favorable interest rates available to qualified Buyers, now may be the right time for that investment in a vacation home or investment property especially before the busy summer months.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Weekly Market Report May 17th ot May 21st

Active Inventory Summary:
Active Listings: The active listing inventory for the Tahoe-Truckee market increased 3.5% from the previous week as more homeowners are putting their homes on the market for the summer season. Currently there are 1,817 active listings in the market; 1,255 residential properties and 561 lots and land listed for sale. Coldwell Banker has over 15% of the listings in the market.

REO-Short Sale Listings: Of the active listings, there are 149 properties listed as short sales, (8%) and 58 properties listed as REO sales, (3%).

Months of Inventory: Based on the current inventory and sales for the previous 30-day period, the market has roughly 16-months of inventory available. The inventory of homes and land at today’s prices continues to favor the buyer interested in an investment property, vacation home or moving up to a bigger home or better location.

Sales Summary:

Total Sales 2010 Vs 2009:

For 2010, year to date (YTD), there have been 472 properties sold in the market as compared to 265 for the same period in 2009 which is a 78% increase in sales.

Of the properties sold, 108 were REO’s, (23%), and 67 were Short Sales, (14%) which results in 37% of the properties sold being a short sale or REO. In 2009 for the same period, there were 32 REO sales and 27 short sales or 22% total.

For 2010, there have been 302 properties sold priced below $500,000, 123 properties sold between $500,000 and $1,000,000 and 47 properties sold over $1,000,000.

Median and Average Sales Prices 2010 Vs 2009: The median sales price for properties sold year to date in 2010 is $400,000 while the average sale price is $526,586. For the same period in 2009, the median sales price was $450,000 and the average sales price was $580,943 which is an (11%) and (9%) decline in price respectively year over year for the same period of time.

Last Week’s Sales: For the week of May 17th to May 21st, a total of 17 properties sold which was the lowest single week of sales since the first week of March. Of the properties sold last week two (2) of the properties sold were over $1.0 million.

Pending Sales: Pending sales went up slightly from the previous week to 183 properties.

Market Activity Summary:

This past week the Tahoe-Truckee area experienced some winter weather which may have been the reason for a slower sales week where only 17 properties sold for the week. That being said, there continues to be a great deal of activity brewing and continued buyer interest in our market.

With residential and lot sales up 78% from the previous year, it points to the fact that astute buyers continue to show strong interested in investing in Tahoe-Truckee real estate which is priced in some cases at 2001 price levels.

One of the key reasons for the spike in unit sales is highly influenced by the drop in home prices. The median sales prices have decreased by 11% to $400,000 and average sales prices have decreased by 9% to $526,586.

We continue to see a greater percentage of sales in the REO and Short Sale arena as roughly 37% of our sales are either REO’s or Short Sales. However, there is still considerable interest in non distressed properties as many are priced at levels that are too good to pass up.

We are continuing to see the trend for sales towards homes priced under $500,000 with 64% of the sales this year being in this price range.

Tahoe-Truckee Median Sales Prices of $400,000 Have Not Been Seen Since 2000-2001!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Fast Facts...

Some Fast Facts From the California Association of Realtors:



Calif. median home price: March 2010: $301,790 (Source: C.A.R.)


Calif. highest median home price by C.A.R. region March 2010: Santa Barbara So. Coast $890,000(Source: C.A.R.)


Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region March 2010: High Desert $122,970 (Source: C.A.R.)


Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index - Fourth Quarter 2009: 64 percent (Source: C.A.R.)


Mortgage rates - week ending 4/22/10 30-yr. fixed: 5.07 Fees/points: 0.7% 15-yr. fixed: 4.39% Fees/points: 0.6% 1-yr. adjustable: 4.22% Fees/points: 0.5% (Source: Freddie Mac)