December South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Review

The South Lake Tahoe real estate market finished out the year with another strong month of single family home sales. December had the most single family home , sales of 2009 with 48, topping the months of October and November in which 46 single family homes were sold. This was a big improvement from December 2008 when 26 single family homes sold in South Lake Tahoe. Although the number of homes sold in 2009 was up 20 units, the median sales price was down 16% from December 2008.

Distress sales accounted for 42% of the single family homes sold in December. There were 14 bank owned properties and 6 short sales that were reported as sold on the South Lake Tahoe mls. The six short sale closings is an improvement from November when only 2 short sales sold. The short sales that closed escrow in December had an average days on the market of 295,  much higher than the foreclosures that sold which only had an average days on the market of 60. As of January 6ththere are still 38 short sales that are still in escrow on the South Lake Tahoe mls.

South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Statistics for December

• There were 48 single family homes sold in December 2009, up from 41 in November 2009, and up from 26 in December 2008.
• The average sales price was $472,453, up from $386,217 in November, and down from $523,490 in December 2008.
• The median sales price was $346,500, up from $320,000 in November, and down from $412,450 in December 2008.
• The average price per square foot was $220, down from $222 in November, and down from $249 in December 2008.
• The average days on the market was 155, down from 158 in November, and down from 204 in December 2008.
• The median days on the market was 110, down from 122 in November, and down from 136 in December 2008.

There were 4 newer foreclosures sold that were built in 2003 or later, but the other 10 were older homes that needed work. The 14 foreclosures that sold in December had an average sales price of $294,660 and a median sales price of $269,400. The average price per square foot for the sold foreclosures was $176.

Currently on the South Lake Tahoe MLS there are 369 single family homes listed and 80 of them are in escrow. Short sales account for 73 of those listings, and 37 of the short sales are in escrow. There are 42 bank owned foreclosures, and 22 of the foreclosures are currently in escrow.

 South Lake Tahoe home buyers took advantage of 22% total decrease in the median home sales price in 2009. There was a 22% increase in homes sold in South Lake Tahoe from 364 units in 2008, to 445 units in 2009. There was also a 3% increase in total volume from $178,081,602 in 2008 to $183,711,317 in 2009. It is clear that home prices are down, and buyer activity is up in South Lake Tahoe.