South Lake Tahoe Foreclosure News

Foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe still seem to be the target for investors, speculators, and home buyers looking for good deals. There are currently 49 foreclosures listed on the South Lake Tahoe MLS and 26 of them are currently in escrow. Out of the 56 homes sold so far this year on the South Lake Tahoe MLS, 22 were bank owned foreclosures. With the recent steady incoming inventory of foreclosures, buyers have been ignoring most of the non-distress sale listings.

DIstress sales (foreclosures and short sales) currently account for 74 of the 104 single family homes that are currently in escrow. There may be some relief in sight for the non-distress sellers. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association the end of the foreclosure crisis may be near.

 ”The continued and sizable drop in the 30-day delinquency rate is a concrete sign that the end may be in sight,” says Jay Brinkmann, MBA’s chief economist, in a published statement.

Brinkmann said that normally there is a large spike in short-term mortgage delinquencies at the end of the year because of high heating bills and holiday expenditures. This year, there was not only no spike, but the 30-day delinquency rate actually fell from 3.79 percent to 3.63 percent.

Thirty-day delinquencies have historically been a leading indicator of serious delinquencies and foreclosures, Brinkmann said.

“[This] gives us growing confidence that the size of the problem now is about as bad as it will get,” he said.

The decrease in the delinquency rate is not the only sign that the foreclosure crises in ending. According to an article in The Wall Street Journal by James R. Hagerty (02/23/2010), home buyers that are looking for a steal on a foreclosure is not as easy as it used to be.

 ”Home buyers hoping to snag a really good deal on a foreclosed home are finding it increasingly difficult because supply is shrinking.

The number of foreclosures that are available for sale nationwide fell to 617,000 in December, down from 845,000 in November 2008, reports Barclays Capital.

Not only have attractive homes in popular neighborhoods already been snapped up, but also government help for distressed buyers is delaying more foreclosures.

Demand is driving up prices. Investors say typical prices have climbed from 75 percent of appraised value to 85 percent or higher when there are bidding wars.”

Home buyers in South Lake Tahoe are also finding that it is more difficult to find a bargon on an under priced foreclosure. In most cases, the foreclosures that have been listed on the South Lake Tahoe MLS are attracting multiple offers. Many buyers are getting beaten out of deals 3 or more times before they are able to purchase a foreclosure. If the inventory of foreclosure listings follows the decrease in delinquencies, it will only get tougher to find a steal on a foreclosure.

South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Market Update

Here are the latest statistics for the South Lake Tahoe real estate market as of February 11, 2010.

Currently there are 388 single family house listings on the South Lake Tahoe MLS. 300 of the homes are active and 88 are active pending. With 23% of our housing inventory in escrow, the market is continuing to be very active.

Short sales account for 20% of the single family home inventory in South Lake Tahoe. There are 77 short sales listed on the South Lake Tahoe MLS and 43 of them are currently in escrow. Many of the short sales that are currently in escrow have been in escrow for a long time. The median days on the market for the short sales that are in escrow is 170.

Foreclosures account for 12% of the single family home inventory on the South Lake Tahoe MLS. There are 46 foreclosures listed on the South Lake Tahoe MLS and 22 of them are in escrow.

With 43 short sales and 22 foreclosures in escrow, 65 of the houses in escrow are now distress sales. Having 74% of our current escrows being distress sales is not good news for regular sellers. For more information regarding South Lake Tahoe real estate statistics, please call Brent Johnson today!

Bank Owned Properties in South Lake Tahoe

In 2009 foreclosures accounted for 137 of the 440 single family homes sold in South Lake Tahoe. Considering that over 31% of the homes sold were foreclosures, there is no doubt that bank owned properties have changed the South Lake Tahoe Real Estate market.

Looking at the South Lake Tahoe Real Estate statistics for 2009, the foreclosures lowered the median sales price, average sales price, average price per square foot, and the days on the market of the homes sold in 2009.

The median sales price was down 22% in 2009 from what it was in 2008. The median sales price of the homes sold in 2009 was $318,000. The median sales price of the foreclosures sold in 2009 was $274,900. If we take the foreclosures out of the statistics, the median sales price goes up to $366,500.

The average sales price was lowered significantly by the foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe. The average sales price for all of the homes sold was $404,364. The average sales price for the foreclosures was $296,076. Taking the foreclosures out of the statistics brings the average sales price up to $453,826.

The average price per square foot for all of the homes sold in South Lake Tahoe in 2009 including the foreclosures was $230. The average price per square foot of the foreclosures that sold was only $190 per square foot. If you take the foreclosures out of the picture, the average sales price per square foot would have been $248.

The median days on the market for all of the homes sold in 2009 was 114 days. The median days on the market for the foreclosures was 70. The median days on the market goes up to 149 if the foreclosures are taken out of the equation.

Just taking the foreclosures out of the statistics changes the prices dramatically, but if you consider that regular sellers also needed to lower their sales prices to compete with the foreclosures, the effect becomes even greater.

Foreclosure sales occured in almost every area in South Lake Tahoe. Here is a list of how many single family home foreclosure sales there were in each area on the South Lake Tahoe MLS in 2009.

• Al Tahoe had 8 foreclosure sales
• Bijou 1 had 18 foreclosure sales
• Bijou 2 had 3 foreclosure sales
• Black Bart had 3 foreclosure sales
• Christmas Valley 1 had 2 foreclosure sales
• Christmas Valley 2 had 3 foreclosure sales
• Echo View Estates had 1 foreclosure sale
• Country Club Estates had 5 foreclosure sales
• Gardner Mountain had 4 foreclosure sales
• Hevenly Valley had 5 foreclosure sales
• Highland Woods had 5 foreclosure sales
• Meyers had 7 foreclosure sales
• Montgomery Estates had 11 foreclosure sales
• North Upper Truckee 1 had 5 foreclosure sales
• North Upper Truckee 2 had 3 foreclosure sales
• Poineer Trail area had 5 foreclosure sales
• Sierra Tract had 13 foreclosure sales
• Sky Meadows had 1 foreclosure sale
• Stateline had 2 foreclosure sales
• Tahoe Island Drive had 5 foreclosure sales
• Tahoe Island Park had 7 foreclosure sales
• Tahoe Keys had 5 foreclosure sales
• Tahoe Paradise had 10 foreclosure sales
• The Y Area had 6 foreclosure sales

Here is what the foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe sold for by price range.

• Under $100,000= 1 sold foreclosures
• $100,000 to $139,999= 3 sold foreclosures
• $140,000 to $159,999= 6 sold foreclosures
• $160,000 to $179,999= 6 sold foreclosures
• $180,000 to $199,999= 10 sold foreclosures
• $200,000 to $249,999= 27 sold foreclosures
• $250,000 to $299,999= 36 sold foreclosures
• $300,000 to $349,999= 20 sold foreclosures
• $350,000 to $399,999= 9 sold foreclosures
• $400,000 to $449,999= 5 sold foreclosures
• $450,000 to $499,999= 4 sold foreclosures
• $500,000 to $549,999= 1 sold foreclosure
• $550,000 to $599,999= 3 sold foreclosures
• $600,000 to $649,999= 2 sold foreclosures
• $700,000 to $749,999= 1 sold foreclosure
• $750,000 to $799,999= 2 sold foreclosures
• $800,000 to $849,999= 1 sold foreclosure

With the number of foreclosures for sale in South Lake Tahoe  so far in 2010, the South Lake Tahoe real estate market should supply some great deals for home buyers in 2010. For more information on foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe, call South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Agent Brent Johnson today!

Recent Lake Tahoe Home Buyer Testimonials

Purchasing a bank owned property can be a bit overwhelming.  When dealing with foreclosures there can be multiple offers, scary bank addendum’s, issues with having utilities turned on for inspections, out of town title and escrow companies and tight time periods. When I am representing a buyer on a bank owned foreclosure purchase, I try to go the extra mile to insure that the transaction will go as smoothly as possible.

Last week I closed escrow on two bank owned properties and here is what my two wonderful clients had to say about my performance:

We were in the Tahoe area visiting our son and drove by a house with a REO sign.  We made a few phone calls to local Realtors then spoke to Brent Johnson who seemed to be very knowledgeable.  Brent was immediately available to help us with options and educate us on a Real estate ownedproperty.  Brent was very knowledgeable and patient and won our confidence - later that afternoon we found ourselves back in his office discussing the process and submitted an offer.  Throughout the process, which included a second round of negotiations, Brent was there as an advisor for us.   Soon thereafter we received a call that the bank accepted our offer - Brent helped us to interface with the other realtor and the bank to make a few concessions and repairs on the home before close of escrow.  Brent’s expertise and knowledge in the field made this transaction successful.

Thanks again Brent
Bill and Mona Pecsi
Southern CA

South Lake Tahoe Foreclosure Statistics

So far this year almost one in three houses sold in South Lake Tahoe was a bank owned foreclosure. There have been 353 single family homes reported as sold on the South Lake Tahoe MLS, 109 of them were foreclosures. With a steady incoming inventory of foreclosure listings coming onto the market, buyers looking for deals still have a good selection to choose from. Although there is still a steady incoming inventory of foreclosure listings, there are more buyers in the real estate market competing for the deals.

The competition over the foreclosure listings has caused many multiple offer situations and has caused many homes to sell over the list price. The average list to sales price for the 30 foreclosure listings that sold from 31 to 60 days of being on the market was 103.47% of list price. The non foreclosures only sold for 96.8% of list price with the same days on the market.

Below is a graph showing the average list price to sales price for the foreclosure listings in South Lake Tahoe that have sold so far this year.

The bank owned foreclosures are also selling for a much lower price per square foot than the non-foreclosure listings. The 109 foreclosures have sold for an average price per square foot of $191 and the non-foreclosures have sold for an average price per square foot of $252. One thing to keep in mind is that most of the bank owned foreclosures needed some work. Weather it was carpet, paint, appliances, or a total remodel needed, there was usually some kind of work necessary for the foreclosure homes.

The average days on the market was much lower for the foreclosures also. The average days on the market for the foreclosures was 87 days. The average days on the market for the non foreclosures was 185 days.

Here are some more interesting comparisons between the foreclosures and non-foreclosures sold this year.

• The median price per square foot for the foreclosure listings was 1,520 and the median square footage for the non-foreclosures was 1,611.
• The median sales price for the sold foreclosures was $280,000 and the median sales price for the non-foreclosures was $352,000.
• The median days on the market for the sold foreclosures was 75 days and the median days on the market for the non-foreclosures was 147.

If you are interested in purchasing a foreclosure in South Lake Tahoe, here are some tips. Make sure that you sign up for new listing notification on my website so that new foreclosure listings are e-mailed to you as they come onto the market. Be sure to look at my current list of foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe for an updated list of what foreclosures are available and which foreclosures are in escrow. The most important thing to do is to get pre-approved from a mortgage broker. Many banks will not even look at an offer unless a pre-approval letter is included with the offer. When you find a foreclosure that you are interested in, be ready to act quickly. With multiple offer situations very common with foreclosure listings, time is of the essence!

If you have any further questions regarding foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe, please call Brent Johnson today!

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