South Lake Tahoe Real Estate for the Month of August

The South Lake Tahoe real estate market has been so busy this last six weeks that have not been able to keep up on my Blog! With the summer winding down, the real estate market just keeps on picking up steam. The attractive prices, low interest rates, and better economic news seem to be fueling the housing market recovery in South Lake Tahoe. There were 44 single family homes that closed escrow in August, up from 37 in July.

The Statistics for the August Sold Houses in South Lake Tahoe are as Follows

• There were 44 single family houses in South Lake Tahoe that sold in August
• There were 10 foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe that sold in August
• There were 4 Short Sales in South Lake Tahoe that closed escrow in August!
• The average sales price was $461,951 (up 14% from $395,570 in July)
• The median sales price was $325,250 (down 8% from $353,000 in July)
• The average price per square foot was $259 (up 8% from $238 in July)
• The median days on the market was 80

Going into August there were 33 short sales in South Lake Tahoe that were in escrow, 4 of them ended up closing escrow last month. Four sold short sales out of 33 short sale escrows does not seem like much, but is an improvement over July when only one short sale closed.  The average selling price for the short sales in South Lake Tahoe that sold was $298,500. The median sales price was $209,000. The average price per square foot was $243. The median days on the market for the short sales was 292.

The foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe continued to sell quickly with the average days on the market at 49, including the escrow period. Another interesting statistic for the sold foreclosures is the average selling price to list price. The foreclosures that sold in the first 30 days sold for 104.37% of the list price. The foreclosures that sold from 31 to 60 days of being listed sold for 102.10% of the list price. The sales from 61 to 90 days of being listed sold for 96.14% of list price. There was only one foreclosure that was on the market for over 91 days, and it sold for 84.82% of asking price. The reason that the foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe are selling over the list price is that there have been multiple offer situations on most of them. There have been as many as 10+ offers on a single bank owned property. The bank owned listing at 705 Sand Harbor is a great example. 705 Sand Harbor was listed for $243,300, there were multiple offers ( many offers!), and it ended up selling for $305,000!

Statistics for the Sold Bank Owned Properties in South Lake Tahoe for the Month of August

• There were 10 single family foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe that sold in August
• The median sales price of the bank owned properties was $283,213
• The average sales price of the bank owned properties was $323,203
• The average days on the market was 49
• The average price per square foot for the sold foreclosures was $186

Activity on vacant lots in South Lake Tahoe was very slow. There were only two lots that closed escrow in the month of August. The two lots that sold were 221 Jacarillo which sold for $87,000 and 2124 West Way which sold for $145,000.

Condos in South Lake Tahoe was the slowest sector of all with only one sale in August. The condo that sold was a short sale at 3344 Sandy Way unit #14 that sold for $138,000. Now that detached single family homes are at prices below what condos were selling for, buyers seem to be choosing the homes.

September is shaping up to be another month of strong sales activity for single family homes. With 43 homes already sold this month, it should surpass the 44 homes that sold in August.