Monthly South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Review

South Tahoe Real Estate in October

The South Lake Tahoe real estate market typically begins to slow down in the late fall and into the winter. There has been a trend of slowing sales, but buyer activity is still quite active for this time of year. There were 45 houses sold in October on the South Lake Tahoe MLS. Although the number of sales is down from 61 in August, it is not far off from the 53 houses that sold in July.

Distress sales accounted for 15 of the 45 houses that were sold. 5 of the distress sales were short sales and 10 were bank owned foreclosures. The bank owned foreclosures that sold in October sold for a very low price per square foot of $154. With the exception of two newer foreclosures, the bank owned properties that sold in October were in poor condition and needed work..

South Lake Tahoe MLS Statistics for October 2010

There were 45 houses that sold in October on the South Lake Tahoe MLS, this is down from the 61 houses that were sold in September.
10 of the houses that were sold were bank owned foreclosures and 5 were short sales.
The median sales price of the sold homes was $297,000, down from $330,500 in September.
The average sales price of the sold homes was $357,263, down from $445,254 in September.
The average days on the market was 143 and the median days on the market was 115.
The average price per square foot of the houses that were sold was $201, down from $219 in September.
The percentage of distress sales that were sold was 33%, up slightly from 28% in September.

The current inventory of houses available on the South Lake Tahoe MLS in the city and county is 443. 356 of the houses are active, and 87 are active pending. Of the current inventory, 41 are bank owned foreclosures. 23 of the foreclosures are active and 18 are in escrow. There are 84 short sales currently on the market. 41 of the short sales are active and 43 of them are in escrow.

In looking at the current inventory of pending houses, 62 of the 87 houses are distress sales. That puts the percentage of distress sales to regular sales that are in escrow at over 71%. Hopefully we can get some of these short sales closed and that percentage will go down.

South Tahoe Real Estate Statistics for September

As usual, September was a busy month in terms of closed escrows in South Lake Tahoe. According to the South Lake Tahoe MLS there were 61 single family homes that had closed escrow in September, up from 49 homes sold in August. The median and average sale prices were up as well.

The average percentage of list price to sales price was also up. This is bad news for buyers who think that they can still make “low ball” offers, but good news for sellers who are probably already taking a huge loss.

Average days on market Breakdown and Average % of List Price Received on Solds by Market time:

0-30 days on the market, 2 listings sold for an average of 99.86% of the listing price.
31-60 days on the market, 10 listings sold for an average of 96.22% of the listing price.
61-90 days on the market, 20 listings sold for an average of 95.93% of the listing price.
91-120 days on the market, 9 listings sold for an average of 92.89% of the listing price.
120+ days on the market, 20 listings sold for an average of 93.26% of the listing price.

The longer that the homes were on the market, the more flexible the sellers were. The houses that were new on the market sold for very close to asking price. The days on the market includes the days that the homes were in escrow as well.

September South Tahoe Real Estate Statistics

There were 61 homes that sold in September on the South Lake Tahoe mls, up from 49 sales in August.
There were 16 bank owned foreclosures that closed escrow in September, the same number that sold in August.
There was only one short sale that closed escrow last month, down from 7 in August.
The median price of the sold homes was $330,500, up from $289,000 in August.
The average price of the sold homes was $445,254, up from $355,002 in August.
The average days on the market was 144 and the median days on the market was 88.
The average price per square foot was $219, up from $207 in August.

The bank owned properties that sold in September had a very low price per square foot of only $152. Most of the foreclosures that had sold were fixer-uppers that needed work. The average sales price of the foreclosures was $257,875 and the median sales price was $232,500.

One statistic that was surprising to me was that 72% of the houses sold in September were regular sales. Only 28% of the sold homes were foreclosures or short sales. Regular sellers are now having much better luck competing with the REO’s now that they have priced their homes competitively.

Lake Tahoe Real Estate Statistics for August 2010

August Real Estate in South Lake Tahoe

August was a much better month for the real estate market in South Lake Tahoe than July was. The number of single family homes that were reported as sold on the South Lake Tahoe mls was up from 31 sales in July to 49 sales in August. The number of homes sold was also up from August 2009 when 45 houses were sold. Although the number of houses sold was up, both the median and average sale prices were down from both last month and last year.

South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Statistics

There were 49 single family houses that were sold on the South Lake Tahoe MLS.
Bank owned foreclosures accounted for 16 of the sales and short sales accounted for 7.
The median sales price of the sold homes was $289,000, down from $330,000 in July and down from $325,250 in August 2009.
The average sales price was $355,002, down from $382,642 in July, and down from $461,591.
The average days on the market was 128 and the median days on the market was 83.
The average price per square foot was $207, down from $229 in July, and down from $259 in August 2009.

One of the reasons that the median sales price, average sales price, and price per square foot was down this month was the amount of bank owned properties that sold. There were 16 foreclosures sold that had an average price per square foot of only $177. The median sales price for the foreclosures was only $232,138. If you remove the foreclosures from the statistics, the average price per square foot jumps up to $222, the median sales price goes up to $334,900, and the average sales price goes up to $368,967. As you can see, the foreclosures continue to hurt the housing prices in Lake Tahoe.

The Tahoe Keys area had 6 homes that were sold in August. One of the houses sold in the Keys was a bank owned foreclosure, and one was a short sale. The foreclosure in the Tahoe Keys that sold was 1276 White Sands. This was a 5 bedroom, 3.5 bath, 3206 square foot home listed at $1,127,900. This house sold well above asking price at $1,225,000. Many of the foreclosed properties that are priced well are receiving multiple offers and selling over the list price. The average price per square foot for the sold Tahoe Keys homes was $292. The Median sales price was $575,000 and the average sales price was $669,167.

Although the median sales price and the average sales price was down in August, the number of closed escrows was up. With 112 of the 527 homes that are currently listed on the South Lake Tahoe MLS in escrow, buyer activity continues to be very active. I anticipate another solid month of closings in September because of the high number of pending sales currently on the MLS.

July Real Estate in South Lake Tahoe

July South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Statistics

The number of single family homes that sold in July fell to 31 from the 53 that sold in June. One reason for the decline in home sales could have been the expiration of the first time home buyer tax credit that had expired on June 30. Out of the 31 homes that were reported as sold on the South Lake Tahoe mls, 6 were bank owned foreclosures and 7 were short sales. That puts the percentage of distress sales at 42% for the month of July.

Statistics for the South Lake Tahoe Homes that sold in June

There were 31 single family homes that were reported as sold on the South Lake Tahoe mls, that is down from 53 in June.
13 of the properties that sold were distress sales. 7 were short sales and 6 were foreclosures.
The median sales price of the sold homes was $330,000, up from $319,000 in June.
The average sales price of the sold homes was $382,642, down from $416,292.
The average days on the market was 130 and the median days on the market was 84.
The average price per square foot was $229, up from $209 in June.

2010 July home prices were very close to what they were in July 2009. In July 2009 the median home sales price was $339,000 ($330,000 in 2010). The average sales price for the homes sold was $393,187 ($382,642 in 2010). The number of home sales was also down from 38 in 2009 to 31 in July 2010.

The bank owned foreclosures that sold in July had an average price per square foot of $201. The median sales price was $387,000 and the average sales price was $409,983. This was the first month that I have seen the foreclosure prices higher than the non-foreclosure prices. There was one foreclosure in the Tahoe Keys area that was sold.

The short sales in South Lake Tahoe that were sold in July had an average price per square foot of $217. The average sales price for the short sales was $241,143 and the median sales price was $249,000.

Lake Tahoe Real Estate Statistics for June 2010

June was a great month for Real Estate in South Lake Tahoe. There were 53 single family homes that closed escrow in June, more than any other month so far this year. The increase in the number of home sales was partially driven by the expiration of the first time home buyer tax credit which expired on June 30. Another factor was that there were a lot of short sales that had been in escrow for a long period of time that ended up closing in June. Almost half of the homes sold last month were distress sales. There were 14 bank owned foreclosures and 12 short sales that were sold. That is a substantial increase from May when 9 foreclosures and 7 short sales were sold.

South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Statistics for June 2010

There were 53 single family homes in South Lake Tahoe that sold in June, up from 42 sales in May.
26 of the sold homes were distress sales (14 foreclosures and 12 short sales).
The median sales price of the sold homes was $319,000, down from $322,000 in May.
The average sales price of the sold homes was $416,292, down from $462,367 in May. The average sales price in May drops down to $387,667 if the $3,525,000 lakefront Tahoe Keys home is removed from the average.
The average days on the market was 179 and the median days on the market was 114.
The average price per square foot was $209, down from $216 in May.

Prices for single family homes actually went up in June 2010 compared to June 2009. The median sales price was up 6% from $300,000 in 2009. The average sales price was up was up 17% from $346,317 in 2009. And the number of single family home sales was up 23% from 41 in 2009. The number of distress sales was up in 2010 as well. There were 26 distress sales in June 2010 compared to 16 in June 2009.

Distress sales continue to bring down the average and median sale prices of the homes sold in Tahoe. The foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe that sold in June had a very low average price per square foot of $157. The median sales price of the foreclosures was only $198,000, the average sales price was $255,107. The low prices of the foreclosures are reflective of the condition of the properties. Many of the foreclosures sold in June were in need of repairs. The distress sales will continue to drive down the median and average sales prices as long as they are around.

Currently there are 512 single family homes listed on the South Lake Tahoe MLS, 70 of those homes are in escrow. There are 33 bank owned foreclosures for sale in South Lake Tahoe, 9 are in escrow. There are 77 short sales listed on the MLS and 35 of them are in escrow.

May South Tahoe Real Estate Stats

May was a much better month for the South Lake Tahoe real estate market than it was for the stock market! There were 42 single family homes that closed escrow in South Tahoe during the month in May 2010. This is a significant increase from the 27 homes that closed escrow in May 2009. The stock market did not fair nearly as well!

Distress sales were once again on the decline. Distress sales only accounted for 38% (16) of the sales in May, down from 48% in April, and down from 58% in March. Foreclosures accounted for only 9 of the closed sold homes, short sales accounted for the other 7.

May South Tahoe Real Estate Statistics

There were 42 single family homes reported as sold on the South Lake Tahoe mls in the month of May. This is up from 27 in May 2009 and down from 46 in April 2010.
The average price of the homes sold was $462,367 (The average drops to$387,669 if I take out the lakefront Keys sale for $3,525,000) The average sales price was $386,177 in April and $355,633 in May 2009.
The median sales price of the homes sold in May was $322,000. This is down from $329,163 in April and up from $315,000 in May 2009.
The average price per square foot was $216. The average price per square foot was $211 in April and $222 in May 2009.
The average days on the market was 145, down from 158 in April and down from 147 in May 2009.
The median days on the market was 99, down from 112 in April and down from 137 in May 2009.

The distress sales that sold in May had a very low price per square foot compared to the non-distress sales. The foreclosures that sold had an average price per square foot of $165 and the short sales had an average price per square foot of $170. The price per square foot for the non-distress sales was $245.

Here are some other interesting statistics for the distress sales sold in May:

Including the escrow period, the foreclosures had an average days on the market of 66. The sold short sales averaged 286 days!
The foreclosures had a median days on the market of 76 days including the escrow period. The sold short sales had a median days on the market of 204!
The average sales price of the foreclosures was $257,156. The average sales price was $479,857 for the short sales.
The median price of the sold foreclosures was $229,900. The median sales price was $525,000 for the short sales.

There were only two lots in South Lake Tahoe that sold in May. Both lots that sold were in the North Upper Truckee area. One was a lot in the burn area that sold for $145,000 and one was a 10,511 square foot lot that sold for $95,000.

There was one condo that sold in May. This was a 2 bedroom 1.5 bath unit in the Tahoe Keys that sold for $290,000.

There was also only one multi family unit that sold in May. This was a property that had 2 houses on one lot in the Tahoe Island Drive area. These homes sold for $240,500.

The most active area of the South Lake Tahoe real estate market continues to be the single family homes. It is great to see that the percentage of short sale and foreclosure sales has continued to decline for the third consecutive month. The percentage of distress sale closings has gone down to 38% from 65% in February. This is another sign of stabilization in the housing market. I hope that it continues!