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South Tahoe Real Estate Review for November 2010

With 38 single family homes (excluding condos) sold on the South Lake Tahoe MLS in November, buyer activity continued to remain somewhat active for this time of year. Home prices seem like they are trying to stabilize as well. The average price per square foot has been bouncing around in the low $200’s over the last few months as follows:

  • November 2010 price per square foot-$212
  • October 2010 price per square foot-$201
  • September 2010 price per square foot-$219
  • August 2010 price per square foot- $207

Distress sales still seem to be dominating the real estate market in South Tahoe. Out of the 38 homes sold in November, 12 were bank owned foreclosures and 8 were short sales. 20 of the 38 homes sold (53%) were distress sales. The average price per square foot for the bank owned foreclosures was $174 and the average price per square foot for the short sales was $210. The foreclosures had an average sales price of $312,000 and a median sales price of $227,500. The short sales had an average sales price of $383,750 and a median sales price of $397,500.

South Lake Tahoe Home Sales Statistics

  • There were 38 single family homes sold in November 2010, down from 42 in November 2009.
  • There were 20 distress sales in November 2010, up from 15 in November 2009 and up from 15 in October 2010.
  • The Median sales price was $291,250, down from $297,000 in October and down from $322,000 in November 2009.
  • The average sales price was $362,934, up from $357,263 in October and down from $410,355 in November 2009.
  • The average days on the market was 131 and the median days on the market was 91.
  • The average price per square foot was $212, up from $201 in October and down from $227 in November 2009.
  • The percentage of distress sales was 53%, up from 33% in October and up from 36% in November 2009.

The current inventory levels have also slightly improved to a more stable level. The total number of single family listings on the South Lake Tahoe MLS has stayed at 443, but the number of pending sales has gone up from 87 to 95. Currently there are 338 active homes on the market and 95 homes that are in escrow. 22% of the homes listed on the South Tahoe MLS are currently under contract. Of the 95 homes that are in escrow, 21 are bank owned foreclosure and 42 are short sales. 66% of the homes under contract are distress sales, this is down from 71% in October.

Another interesting point is that there have been a lot more multiple offer situations than there has been in a while. Last week I wrote four different offers for four different clients. Three of the four properties that I wrote offers on ended up having multiple offers in on them.

December is going to be a great month to plan a trip to Lake Tahoe to both look at properties and hit the slopes. There are some great deals currently on the market on both short sales and foreclosures. There are also new listings coming on the South Lake Tahoe MLS Daily.  The record snow that fell in November has enabled most ski resorts to open from top to bottom for some great early skiing and boarding. Heavenly Ski Resort has over 4000 acres of skiing and boarding open now which is about 85% of the mountain. Make sure to give me a call on my cell phone at (530) 416-2625 to set up an appointment to look at some homes!

South Tahoe Real Estate Statistics

 South Lake Tahoe MLS statistics as of November 17, 2010

The following statistics are for Residential (single family and condo/town homes) located in the City and County areas of South Lake Tahoe:

  • The total number of listings on the South Lake Tahoe MLS is 511 (78 of the homes are listed by Chase=15.3% of the inventory).
  • 412 of the listings are active (still available) 42 of the active listings are short sales and 31 are bank owned listings. Only 17.7% of the active inventory is distress sales.
  • 99 of the listings are in escrow. 50 of the current houses in escrow are short sales and 25 are bank owned. 75.8% of the current escrows are distress sales.
  • The 99 escrows represent 19.4 % of the total inventory in escrow.

Breakdown by price range of the 99 escrows

  • Under $200,000         21 properties
  • $201-$300,000         37 properties
  • $301-$400,000         16 properties
  • $401-$500,000         9   properties
  • $501-$600,000         3  properties
  • $601-$700,000         5  properties
  • $701-$800,000         3  properties
  • $801-$999,000         4 properties
  • Over 1 million            1  property

So far this year there have been 495 single family homes and condos sold in the South Lake Tahoe MLS.

  • 145 of the properties sold were bank owned foreclosures (29.3%)
  • 81 of the properties sold were short sales (16.4%)

There are currently 80 single family homes and condos listed in the Tahoe Keys area. 68 of the properties are active, and 12 of the properties are in escrow.  The current Tahoe Keys inventory includes 8 bank owned properties and 7 short sales. There have been 58 properties sold in the Tahoe Keys so far this year. 8 of the sold homes were foreclosures and 6 of the homes were short sales.

 

 

Thank You To My Wonderful Clients!

 

 

I wanted to take the time to thank all of the wonderful clients that I have worked with this summer. Although I spent a lot more time at the office than I did at the beach, I had a great summer making many lasting relationships. This has been the busiest year that I have had since I have been a Real Estate Agent in South Lake Tahoe. Out of the 8 offices and 200+ agents here at Chase International, I was able to sell more homes last quarter than anyone else. Great clients and hard work goes a long way.

I hope that all of you who purchased homes in South Lake Tahoe are able to enjoy this amazing place as much as I do! Thanks Again!

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.

Banks to Resume Foreclosing on Delinquent Homeowners Again

After a nationwide freeze on foreclosures, Bank of America and GMAC have resumed foreclosing on delinquent homeowners again. Bank of America and many other lending institutions had recently halted foreclosures due to controversy over problematic documents.

 According to The New York Times, Bank of America confirmed that it did discover errors in some foreclosure filings. The errors were called “tiny” and they did not find a single case where a homeowner was facing foreclosure in error.

According to Barbara J. Desoer, president of Bank Of America Home Loans, “We did a thorough review of the process, and we found the facts underlying the decision to foreclose have been accurate. We paused while we were doing that, and now we’re moving forward.”

I am not sure what effect that the temporary halt on foreclosures will have on the South Lake Tahoe real estate market, but it should be minimal. Our market is not saturated with foreclosures like many other areas are, only 42 of the 462 single family houses listed on the South Tahoe mls are bank owned foreclosures. I think that the temporary foreclosure freeze was short enough that the impact will be minimal.

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.