October South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Review

November 3, 2009

October was another great month for single family home sales in South Lake Tahoe. There were 46 homes sold in October which tied the month September for the most single family houses sold in 2009. Home buyers did a great job taking advantage of the low home prices and the great fall weather here in South Lake Tahoe. Many of the home buyers were first time home buyers taking advantage of the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit before it expires. There has been talk about the possibility of the first time home buyer tax credit being extended. According to The National Association of Realtors, Key lawmakers in the Senate have tentatively agreed to extend the existing tax credit for first time home buyers. If the tax credit is extended, it should benefit the housing market across the country.

Here are the statistics for the single family houses in South Lake Tahoe that sold in October:

  • There were 46 single family homes in South Lake Tahoe that were sold in October
  • 16 of the sold homes were bank owned foreclosures
  • There were 4 short sales in South Lake Tahoe sold
  • The average sales price for the sold homes was $440,393 (up from $371,058 in September)
  • The median sales price was $323,500 (up from $292,500 in September)
  • The average selling price per square foot was $239 (up from $215,000 in September)
  • The median days on the market was 123

There were only 4 short sales that closed escrow in October, this is down from 7 sold in September. The short sales that sold had a very long median days on the market of 227. The average price per square foot for the short sales was $231, and the median sales price was $564,500. It still seems like most banks are more willing to spend time and money on foreclosing on homes than they are willing to work with the sellers and real estate agents to get short sales closed!

There were 16 bank owned foreclosures that were sold in October. The average price per square foot for the sold foreclosures was $184, down from $196 in  September. The average price per square foot for the non-distress sales that sold in October was $274, $90 per square foot more than the foreclosures. South Lake Tahoe real estate buyers continued to target bank owned foreclosure listings and continued to pay close to or above list price for them. The foreclosures that sold in the first 30 days of being listed (3 homes) sold for 98% of list price. The foreclosures that sold from 31-60 days of being listed (2homes) sold for 130% of list price. The foreclosures that sold from 61-90 days of being listed (4 homes) sold for 94% of list price. The foreclosures that sold after over 91 days of being listed (7 homes) sold for 101% of the listing price.

  • The average sales price for the foreclosures sold in October was $308,838
  • The median sales price for the sold foreclosures was $282,500
  • The median days on the market was 79
  • The average sales price per square foot was $184

There is still a great selection of houses available in South Lake Tahoe. There are currently 346 houses for sale on the South Lake Tahoe mls and 95 houses that are in escrow. There has also been some decent foreclosures coming onto the market each week. Make sure to keep visiting my current list of foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe or sign up for my new listing notification to be notified of new listings that meet your criteria.

South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Review for September

October 7, 2009

There were more single family houses in South Lake Tahoe sold in September than any other month this year. There were 46 homes that were reported as sold on the South Lake Tahoe mls last month, up from 44 in August. First time home buyers are taking advantage of the $8,000 tax credit before it goes away, and investors and second home buyers are getting deals on foreclosures, short sales, and motivated sellers.

Statistics for the Houses in South Lake Tahoe that sold in September

  • There were 46 houses in South Lake Tahoe that sold in September
  • There were 13 foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe that were sold in September
  • There were 7 short sales in South Lake Tahoe that were sold in September
  • The average sales price was $371,058 (down from $461,951 in August)
  • The median sales price was $292,500 (down from $325,250 in August)
  • The average sales price per square foot was $215 (down from $259 in August)
  • The median days on the market was 110

In August I was happy to see that there were 4 short sales that had closed escrow, so I am thrilled to see that there were 7 short sales that sold in September! The median days on the market for the short sales that closed escrow was quite high at 222 days. The short sales that sold had a great average price per square foot of 202 considering that some of the short sales were very nice.

The foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe continued to sell for very close to list price, the average percentage of list price received was almost 98%. The foreclosures on the South Lake Tahoe mls sold for an average of $196 per square foot. The median sales price for the bank owned foreclosures was $284,000 and the median days on the market was only 66 days including the escrow period.

The inventory of single family homes on the South Lake Tahoe mls is now much healthier with 21% of the inventory now in escrow. There are currently 497 houses listed in South Lake Tahoe, and 102 of them are in escrow. Of the 102 houses in escrow, 39 are short sales and 18 are bank owned foreclosures.

For more information about South Lake Tahoe real estate please call Brent and Jill Johnson today!

South Lake Tahoe Real Estate for the Month of August

September 26, 2009

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.

Real Estate in South Lake Tahoe for the Month of July

August 7, 2009

The South Lake Tahoe real estate market had another solid month of activity on the sale of single family homes. There were 37 houses in South Lake Tahoe that closed escrow in the month of July, there were 38 homes that had sold in June. With three consecutive months of increasing home sales across the country, South Lake Tahoe seems to be following a similar story.

Statistics for the single family homes in South Lake Tahoe sold in July

  • There were 37 houses in South Lake Tahoe that sold in July
  • There were 9 foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe sold in July
  • Only one short sale was sold in July
  • The average sales price was $395,570 ( up 11% from $352,555 in June)
  • The median sales price was $353,000 (  up 12% from $310,000 in June)
  • The average price per square foot was $238 ( up 4% from $229 in June)

Foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe were still popular with home buyers in the month of July. Currently there are 38 foreclosures listed on the South Lake Tahoe mls, and 20 of them are in escrow. The foreclosures that sold in July had an average sales price per square foot of $204, a median sales price of $305,000, and an average sales price of $320,767. The foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe that sold in the first 60 days sold for an average of 105.7% above the listing price. The multiple offer situations that the bank owned properties are having is causing the homes to sell for above asking price.

There are 472 single family homes that are available on the South Lake Tahoe mls, and there are 96 homes that are currently in escrow. Out of the 96 homes that are in escrow, 33 are short sales and 20 are foreclosures bringing the percentage of “distress sale” escrows to 55%.

August should be another strong month in terms of home sales with the number of current escrows at close to 100. There seems to be continuing good news about the economy, and it will be interesting to see if and how it will affect the South Lake Tahoe real estate market.

 Please give Brent and Jill Johnson a call for more information about real estate in South Lake Tahoe!

South Lake Tahoe Real Estate Review for June

July 7, 2009

The South Lake Tahoe real estate market is continuing to attract buyers looking to purchase homes at values around 35% less than what they were in 2006! According to the South Lake Tahoe mls, there were 38 single family homes that sold in June with a median sales price was $310,000, 35% less than the median sales price was in June of 2006. The average price per square foot was also down 38% from $370 in 2006 to $229 in 2009.

The attractive home prices, low interest rates, and the $8,000 first time buyers tax credit contributed to an increase in sales from 26 homes sold in May to 38 homes sold in June. The number of bank owned foreclosures in South Lake Tahoe that sold in June dropped 2 units from 11 sales in May, to 9 sales in June. June also saw 5 short sale closings, no single family home short sales were reported in May on the South Lake Tahoe mls.

Statistics for the single family homes in South Lake Tahoe sold in June

  • There were 38 houses in South Lake Tahoe that sold in June
  • 9 of the houses sold were bank owned foreclosures
  • 5 of the houses sold were short sales
  • The average sales price was $352,555 (down 2% from $360,169 in May)
  • The median sales price was $310,000 (down 2% from $315,000 in May)
  • The average price per square foot was $229 (up 3% from $222 in May)
  • The average days on the market was 184

The bank owned foreclosures that sold in June were a major contributor to the decline in the median and average sales prices. The average sales price for the 9 foreclosures that sold in June was $288,456, compared to an average sales price of $416,350 for the non-foreclosures. The median sales price for the foreclosures sold was $289,000, compared to $376,000 for non-foreclosures. Average price per square foot was only $176 for the foreclosures, and was $253 for the non foreclosures. Most of the foreclosure listings in South Lake Tahoe are in need of at least some kind of work which contributes to the lower sales prices.

With 31 short sales in South Lake Tahoe that are currently in escrow, it was great to see that 5 short sales closed escrow in June considering that there were no short sales that closed escrow in May. The short sale listings that closed escrow in June had an average sales price of $283,200, a median sales price of $290,000, and an average sales price per square foot of $212.

South Lake Tahoe home buyers also put 44 single family houses in escrow during the month of June. The number of June escrows is down from 56 in May, but up from 43 in April. The number of distress sales that went into escrow in June decreased with only 3 foreclosures and 8 short sales that went into escrow.

Statistics for the Single Family Homes in South Lake Tahoe went into Escrow in June

  • There were 44 single family houses in South Lake Tahoe that went into escrow in June
  • The average list price for the new escrows was $451,525
  • The median list price was $304,500
  • The average price per square foot was $277
  • 8 of the homes are short sales
  • 3 of the homes are bank owned foreclosures

Activity on lots in South Lake Tahoe picked up slightly in June with 5 lots sold, and 3 lots that went into escrow. 625 Tahoe Island Drive was a bank owned lot that had a list price of $74,900, received multiple offers and sold well above asking price at $125,000. There were also two lots in the Tahoe Keys on Venice Drive that sold with allocations.

Condos in South Lake Tahoe also improved with 8 new escrows and 3 sales. Two of the condos that went into escrow and one of the condos that sold were in the Tahoe Keys.

To find out more on how to take advantage of the low interest rates, the $8,000 first time home-buyer tax credit, and the low South Lake Tahoe real estate prices, call Brent and Jill Johnson at (530) 416-2625 today!

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