January South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Review

The lack of new snow in January was not good for the ski resorts or the lake level, but the warm weather seemed to bring out the South Lake Tahoe home buyers. South Tahoe home buyers were out in force last month opening up 35 new single family home escrows. The savvy home buyers were not out just buying anything though, out of the 35 new single family escrows, 17 were foreclosures, 2 were short sales, and the rest were re-sale homes.

Here are the January statistics from the South Lake Tahoe MLS for the new escrows:

• There were 35 houses for sale in South Lake Tahoe that went into escrow.
• 17 of the houses were bank owned foreclosures (51%)
• 2 of the houses were short sales
• Average list price $393,414
• Median list price $314,975
• Average days on market 126
• Median days on market 67
• Average square feet 1678
• Median square feet 1536

There is such a big statistical difference between the foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe and the non-foreclosure homes that I separated them into two different categories for comparison. The comparison between foreclosures and homes non-foreclosures for the new January escrows is as follows:

• The average list price for the foreclosures was $295,434 (41% less than non-foreclosure homes which had an average list price of $499,832.)
• The median list price for the foreclosures was $279,000 (35% less than non-foreclosure homes which had a median list price of $429,000.)
• The average days on market for the foreclosures was 55 (72% less than non-foreclosure homes which had an average days on market of 196.)
• The median days on market for the foreclosures was 40 (77% less than non-foreclosure homes which had a median days on market of 177.)
• The average price per square foot for the foreclosures was $194 (31% less than non-foreclosure homes which had an average price per square foot of $281.)

As you can see, the foreclosure sales were much quicker, and the prices were much lower than the non-foreclosures. The average size of the foreclosures was less than the non-foreclosures and  the price per square foot was 31% less than the non-foreclosures.

There were only 16 single family homes that closed escrow (sold) in January. That is down from 26 sold houses in December 2008, and 26 sold houses in January 2007.

The January sold single family home statistics from the South Lake Tahoe MLS are as follows:

• 16 closed escrows
• 7 of the houses were foreclosures (56%)
• Average list price/selling price  $353,768/$329,142 (93%)
• Median list price/ selling price $310,500/ $296,500 (95%)
• Average square feet was 1345 sf.
• Median square feet was 1254 sf.
• Average days on market was 108 days
• Median days on market was 94 days

Current escrows and recent sales in the South Lake Tahoe Real Estate market are still being dominated by foreclosures. Foreclosures only account for about 8% (37 out of 439) of the houses for sale in South Lake Tahoe, but account for over 50% of the escrows and sales. South Tahoe home buyers are looking for good deals, and are finding them on foreclosures. Short sales are also getting more activity. With lenders beginning to negotiate more with short sale transactions, I expect to see more short sale listings and closings in the future.

The statistics for this blog were taken from the South Lake Tahoe mls. South Lake Tahoe Real Estate agent Brent Johnson wrote this post on Super Bowl Sunday! For more information regarding foreclosures for sale in South lake Tahoe, the South Lake Tahoe mls, or South Lake Tahoe Real Estate contact Brent and Jill Johnson for an appointment today!