Homes in South Lake Tahoe

New California Building Codes

Building new homes in South Lake Tahoe and other areas in California may have just become even more expensive!

Starting January 1st. 2008, the Wildland-Urban Interface codes began taking effect. These new codes apply to new construction (residential and commercial), but do not apply to remodels or additions. The Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) codes only apply to properties in high fire hazard severity zones. The LRA maps that will be used by the local building departments during plan check to see if the property is in a high severity zone are still not finalized, but should be any day now.

If the WUI codes do apply, and they most likely will in Lake Tahoe, there are some major changes to the building products that will be allowed to be used. There is a Wildland Urban Interface Approved Product list , which lists approved building products. The WUI approved product list is constantly updated as new products are tested and approved.

The WUI codes affect the types of exterior wall siding, decking, windows, vents, exterior doors (including garage door), eaves, gutters, roofing, and attic ventilation.

The enforcement of the WUI codes is the responsibility of the local building departments, and the materials to be used in construction will need to be on the plans submitted to the building departments. It will be interesting to see how many more products are tested and approved, because right now the list is very short!

Although the WUI codes may be an added cost and a pain to deal with at first, they are in place for a good reason. Now all we need to do is to get the TRPA to allow us to clear a reasonable defensible space!

South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Activity

Spring is just around the corner, the snow is melting, the birds are chirping, and home buyers are buying!
The South Lake Tahoe Real Estate market has seen a flurry of recent activity in the single family home market. According to the South Lake Tahoe MLS, there are currently 63 single family homes in escrow. The amount of homes in escrow has nearly doubled since last months low of 37 escrows.
The price range of the homes in escrow is as follows:
Single family homes under $300,000= 14 in escrow
$300,001 to $500,000= 27 in escrow
$500,001 to $800,000= 16 in escrow
$800,001 to $1,000,000= 2 in escrow
over $1,000,000= 4 in escrow

The recent activity for single family homes in South Lake Tahoe is promising news for sellers. Sellers need to be aware that most of the recent activity has been revolving around foreclosures and homes priced lower than there competition. Pricing your home right will continue to be the most important way to get it sold!
Condos in South Lake Tahoe are still lagging big time. There are only two condos in escrow today. I think that condo sales will continue to lag until the overall economy strengthens.
Lots in South Lake Tahoe are also slow.
According to the South Lake Tahoe MLS, there are currently seven lots in escrow. Lot sales will also remain flat until new home sales pick up.
Builders need to sell there current inventory, and gain confidence before buying more land.

Although the South Lake Tahoe real estate market is showing signs of life, we are not out of the woods just yet. I just hope that the home buyers that are still on the fence, decide to act before they miss the boat, when ever that may be.

Real Estate In South Lake Tahoe Is Getting Creative!

Buyers and Sellers of Real Estate In South Lake Tahoe are getting creative!

I was recently received an offer on one of my listings that has been on the market for about 180 days. After countering back and forth with four counter offers, we finally came to an agreement. This property is now in escrow, so I can not disclose the exact terms. I can discuss the creative part, which involves a trade. The buyers came in with a combination of cash, a loan, and a vacant lot as a trade. A vacant lot for a trade probably would not appeal to most sellers of homes in South Lake Tahoe. My seller does not want another lot, he already has three, but the holding cost of a vacant lot is quite a bit less than a million dollar spec home.This is the first time that I have sold a home in South Lake Tahoe that involved a partial trade for another piece of real estate, but I am sure that it will not be the last.

My seller seems happy, he will be able to pay off his construction loans which are costing him almost $6,000 a month!

I have a feeling that he will be putting the lot on the market as soon as this deal closes escrow. Sometimes you must get creative and be flexible to buy or sell real estate!

Will This Help Real Estate In South Lake Tahoe?

Will the economic $152 billion stimulus bill affect Real Estate in South Lake Tahoe?

President Bush signed the bill last week in an effort to stimulate the economy and the National real estate market. This bill includes a temporary increase in loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA until December 31, 2008.

According to NAR president “The loan limit increase should help 138,000 Americans purchase homes and could help 200,000 home owners refinance, and potentially keep there homes.

The FHA loan limit will increase in “High cost areas” and will increase up to 125% of the local median home price, or up to $729,750. The temporary loan limits should be published by March 14th.

This loan increase may help the South Lake Tahoe Real Estate market a little, but I do not think that it will turn it around. There is a large inventory of new homes in South Lake Tahoe that have been on the market for a long time. The loan limits should increase enough for some buyers to be able to afford one these new homes. Sellers with resale homes priced over $500,000 should also benefit from the increased loan limits.

Sellers beware! Even though I feel the loan limit increase will help some buyers in the South Lake Tahoe Real Estate market, sellers need to be realistic. Pricing your home right in the current market conditions is, and still will be crucial!

Condos in South Lake Tahoe

Condos in South Lake Tahoe received the brunt of the market slow down in 2007. Compared to the 11% decrease in volume of Single family homes in South Lake Tahoe, Condo sales volume plummeted 57% from $37,796,470 in 2006, to $12,684,000. I think part of the reduction is due to the fact that single family home prices dropped low enough to compete with the condo market. Condo prices also inflated very quickly leading up to 2005-2006 that they became very unstable in the slow 2007 real estate market.

The number of South Lake Tahoe Condos sold in 2007 decreased 39% from 51 in 2006 to 31 in 2007.

The median price dropped 9% from $389,000 in 2006 to $355,000 in 2007, and the average sales price fell 30% from $580,772 to $409,161.

Condos in South Lake Tahoe priced under $500,000 saw a 26% decrease in units sold, from 31 in 2006 to 20 in 2007. Units sold for condos priced over $500,000 fell 60% from 20 units in 2006 to 8 units in 2007.

What is the “up” side to the 2007 condo market? You may now be able to buy the condo that you were looking for in 2005 or 2006 but could not afford!

2007 South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Review

Real Estate in South Lake Tahoe fared better than most other Real Estate markets around the country. One reason that the South Lake Tahoe Real Estate market is primarily a second home market. The second home market is a much stronger market. Other resort destination areas like Lake Tahoe will continue to be stronger than metropolitan areas. South Lake Tahoe Real Estate still experienced an overall decrease in both single family home and condo sales in 2007 in most price ranges. One exception would be single family homes over one million dollars. Single family homes over one million dollars increased 18% from 2006 to 2007.

Single family homes in South Lake Tahoe experienced a decrease in total volume of 11% from $250,960,911 in 2006, to $222,771,475 in 2007.

The total number of single family homes in South Lake Tahoe sold decreased 14% from 446 units in 2006 to 385 units sold in 2007.

The median price of sold single family homes in South Lake Tahoe decreased 7% from $475,000 in 2006, to $440,000 in 2007. The average price actually rose 3% from $562,693 to $578,627. The increase in the average price was likely due to the increase in sales over one million dollars.

There was a 16% decrease in Single family homes in South Lake Tahoe under one million dollars. In 2006 there were 412 and in 2007 there were 345. It was the 18%increase of units over one million, from 34 in 2006 to 40 in 2007 that caused the average price of homes sold to actually increase.

What happens in 2008 will be very interesting and exciting. It is still a buyers market, and there are some very motivated sellers out there. We are even finding some great foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe. I think that those who can afford to take advantage of the current buyers market, and invest in the South Lake Tahoe Real Estate market for the long term, will beat the market!