Here are the sales stats for December 2011 – March 28, 2012
December 2011 Total Sold 61 Short Sales 14 REOs 19
January 40 8 20
February 33 7 15
March 41 7 10
The current inventory of available single family homes in the City and County areas sits at 219. It has been many years since we’ve seen inventory that low. I mentioned in a previous blog that, as the inventory and interest rates remain low, the prices continue to fall, however slowly, and those facts defy the principal of supply and demand. I have personally been in multiple offer situations over the past weeks while representing sellers and buyers which tells me that the consumer confidence is beginning to rise. The wild card in this mix is the inventory of upcoming bank owned properties and short sale homes. The market is good for sellers who want to sell and buyers who want to buy. We are not at the bottom of this market yet, we are close enough that if you are looking for Tahoe home and plan to keep it over the long haul, get in the mix and buy something.
After a long dry Autumn, we have snow. It was a great thing to see it snowing right on the heals of a devastating mid-January wildfire in Reno that two of my sons were fighting.
Although the economy would have been better with snow before now, it was a banner year for ice skating as the photo of Lower Echo Lake testifies (I took the other photo on the trails behind our house today). I did enjoy the lack of snow by hiking and mountain biking as skiing on ribbons of man made snow began to feel a bit confining. Hope you can come up and enjoy Winter in Tahoe at your favorite snow sport area very soon.
Image via Wikipedia
The numbers for November continue to amaze me. With closed sales down from the previous month at 46 and a remaining inventory of 255, that makes the absorption rate 5.54 months for single family homes in the City and County areas. The really amazing factor is the continuing decline in prices. Even with low inventory, low interest rates there is still a lack of consumer confidence. I say again, if you are thinking of investing in Tahoe Real Estate, this is the time to buy.
Image by RenoTahoe via Flickr
On mostly man made snow Heavenly Valley Ski Area is scheduled to be open this week, November 18. Their hours and terrain are sure to be limited, but they will be open nonetheless. Sierra-at-Tahoe is waiting for natural snow to open their resort and Kirkwood, which has 35-39 inches, has no opening date scheduled. Here comes another winter, I wonder if it will be unending, bottomless powder skiing like last year. I’ll let you know in the Spring.
Image by Getty Images via @daylife
The listing inventory of single family homes is 291 (City and County areas). That means if escrows keep closing at 60 per month like the last 30 day period, we will be out of listings in less than five months if no new listings come on the market. An absorption rate like that takes me back to the market of 2004. The difference now is that prices are on the way down. If you were ever considering a purchase in Tahoe, it is a great time to buy.
Image by Diana Parkhouse via Flickr
PAST THREE MONTHS SALES STATS
360 Active Listings, of those listings 82 are either REO or Short Sale listings comprising 23% of the total. As usual, these calculations are made on sales activity of single family homes in the City – County areas of the South Tahoe Area Realtors MLS data.
135 Sold listings in the past three months with distressed properties making up 46% of those homes closed. 41 – 30% REO Listings 21 – 16% Short Sale Listings
Pending listings are made up of 58% of either REO or Short Sales.
An interesting number is the increase in short sale closed escrows. Short sale lenders have improved the process and, if not easier, at least it is possible to close more short sales.
My friend Dudley reminded me that I am shamefully remiss in updating my blog. The truth is, I am so busy serving clients that I have been ignoring blogging duty. This is a good problem, I admit. I am reminded also, to thank all my friends and clients who have referred their friends, family and co-workers to me for their real estate needs. You are the reason I am so busy. So I want to officially say , “Thank you Dudley for reminding me to blog, and thanks also to all of you who have allowed me to serve your friends and family.”
Am I the only one thinking that mortgage interest rates are still crazy low? Just look where we started in 1991 with a yearly average rate of 9.25% falling to 7.33% in 1993. After 1993 the rates bounced around with a low in 1998 of 6.94% then lowered further hovering around 6% until 2009 to a rate of 5.04% then down further to 4.69% in 2010. So far this year we are looking at a first quarter average of 4.85%.
How long rates will remain this low is anybody’s guess. But this history of mortgage interest rates demonstrates just how historically low rates are. Look where rates were in the early nineties – then look what happened!
Hope this information provides food for thought for any of you wondering if now is a good time to get off the fence regarding a real estate investment. With the prices of homes still declining, it is a great time to buy. Seasoned investors, primary and second home buyers are all back in force buying well priced properties.
The property pictured below was sold in less than 30 days to an investor who will see a
ROI of approximately 18%.
Today was a beautiful day in South Lake Tahoe for the Realtor tour of sixteen homes. There was one home that stood out in the crowd. It was voted best value by the Realtors on tour, and there was stiff competition. That house is 3426 Panorama . You can see why when you look at this photo. There is also link for more pictures and information on this jem. http://www.idxcentral.com/sltbor/idxsearch.cfm?idxid=thall&pg=profile&mls=117254
My husband, Steve, and I just went on our second snowcat ski trip.
This one was in British 
Columbia, Canada and we had so much fun. It was completely isolated; a 7 hour drive from the airport to a parking lot where we
took an hour and a half long snowcat ride to the lodge. The quality
of the skiing was matched by the quality of the food. Organic local
produce and meats that were prepared on site. Each morning began at 6am Mountain time where we ate, packed lunch and would leave to ski fresh powder from dawn to dusk. One ski run in particular was so much fun that I just had to bellow, “WOOO HOOOO!” Steve was the only person
to hear me and I know that he was laughing. The days were so long and
we didn’t have the energy to deivate from the schedule. It seemed
like a boot camp for powder skiing. The motto would have been
something like, “You will have fun, and you will ski powder whether
you like it or not.” The 3 days went by quickly, as all vacations do.
We were happy that our ski guide gave us some of his photos
from our trip. They are so spectacular that I have to remind myself
that it really did happen.
