The South Lake Tahoe Real Estate market has been off to an amazing start in 2016. I believe that a combination of low interest rates, improving economy, and great Sierra Nevada ski season has given buyers the confidence to invest in South Lake Tahoe Real Estate.

So far this year the South Lake Tahoe Real Estate market has seen an increase in the median sales price, number of properties sold year to date, and a significant increase in pending sales.

As of May 1st the median sales price for single family homes within the city and county areas in South Lake Tahoe was $379,500, up 7% from $355,000 in May, 2015. In my opinion the most interesting statistic is the number of pending sales. There is currently 110 single family and condo/townhouses in escrow. Last year during this same time there were only 69 pending sales.  The number of properties sold has also increased significantly. So far in 2016 there has been 198 single family and condo/townhouses that have sold, up from 157 in 2015 during the same 4 month period.

The current inventory of homes for sale on the South Lake Tahoe MLS is low and there is not much for buyers to choose from. There are currently 175 active single family homes and condo/townhouses for sale. Last year there were 275 properties to choose from. I do anticipate the number of available listings to increase as it usually does in the early summer months. We usually experience about a 20% to a 30% increase of inventory as the selling season approaches.

The majority of the buyer activity is happening under $500,000 as seen below in the breakdown of the 110 properties that are currently in escrow:

Price Range                      Number of Escrows

Under $200,000           8 properties

$201-$300,000            10 properties

$301-$400,000            31 properties

$401-$500,000            20 properties

$501-$600,000            10 properties

$601-$700,000            15 properties

$701-$800,000             6 properties

$801-$999,000            3 properties

Over $1,000,000           7 properties

So far this year distress sales have been few and far between and have not been a major impact on the South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Market. There is currently only 1 active short sale listing and 4 active bank owned foreclosure listings accounting for 2.9% of the total inventory for sale. There have been 5 bank owned foreclosure sales accounting for 2.5% of the closings and 4 short sales that account for 2% of the closings.

The Tahoe Keys Real Estate market is also off to a great start to 2016. There are currently 12 single family homes and townhouses that are under contract and 16 that have closed escrow so far this year. I believe that Keys buyers have been encouraged by the normal winter which is brought our lake level back up above the natural rim!

For more information about the South Lake Tahoe Real Estate market please call Brent Johnson at (530) 416-2625 today!