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Have South Lake Tahoe Buyer Habits Changed Recently?

March 16th, 2010 categories: Escrow Report, For Buyers, For Sellers, Foreclosures, Lake Tahoe Real Estate, Major Market Reports, Median Sold Price Report, South Lake Tahoe Statistics, South Lake Tahoe, CA

There is a better way to look at South Lake Tahoe market conditions.Another Way of Looking at South Lake Tahoe Escrow… to determine possible change in buying habits.

We were in various discussions late yesterday about current South Lake Tahoe market conditions, which is certainly more common than not. What we were responding to is some of our colleagues are saying they have seen more buyers in the last few weeks purchasing homes that are not distressed, rather than buying bank owned homes or short sales.

It was their opinion that buyers are tired of the often labyrinthian, confounding  difficulty of getting acceptance and closing a distressed property sale.

A manager from a different brokerage said he believes buyers are presently buying more homes that are not distressed… at reasonable prices (that is true, some homes are priced with exceptional reason).

While we certainly know that purchasing a distressed property is more difficult, and that buyers are put off by the tedious process, we have not seen any meaningful change in buyer preferences, not only in the last few weeks, but in the last 6 months.

Nevertheless, lets take a look at recent escrow and median sales to see if there is any evidence that buyers are doing anything new or different.

The charts below track South Lake Tahoe activity since September 1st of last year.

 Homes in Escrow :

The number of homes in escrow has ranged from a high of 109 to a low of 81.

  • This is a difference of 28, or 25.7%.
  • The average number of homes in escrow in the last six months has been 98.75.

The number of distressed properties in escrow has ranged from a high of 75 to a low of 56.

  • This is a difference of 19, or 25.3%.
  • The average number of distressed properties in escrow has been 64.

The percentage of distress properties in escrow has ranged from a high of 74.1% to a low of 55.1%.

  • This is a difference of 19%.
  • The average has been 65.1%.

The number of homes in escrow that are not distressed properties has ranged from a high of 48 to a low of 21.

  • This is a difference of 27, or 56.3%.
  • The average number of homes in escrow that are not distressed has been 34.75.

The median price of homes in escrow has ranged from a high of $344,000 to a low of $319,000.

  • This is a difference of $25,000, or 7.3%.
  • The average has been $329,156.

 Inventory : (active listings only)

The number of active listings has ranged from a high of 447 to a low of 295.

  • This is a difference of 152, or 34%.
  • The average number of listings on the market has been 342.1.

A decline in South Lake Tahoe housing inventory normally occurs after Labor Day each year. Inventory normally starts increasing in the first quarter of each year, and reaches its peak in late summer.

 Median Sold Price : (180-days, Tahoe Keys not included)

The median sold price in South Lake Tahoe since last October has ranged from a high of $305,000 to a low of $300,000.

  • This is a difference of only $5,000, or 1.6%.

 The Bottom Line :

What this study supports what we already knew: other than inventory being lower than normal for this time of year, there has been no change in buyer preferences recently.

The chart below indicates South Lake Tahoe, CA escrow, inventory and distressed sales in escrow since September 1, 2009.

Lots of South Lake Tahoe, CA real estate statistics

The chart below indicates South Lake Tahoe, CA median sold prices since October, 2009. Note that the 180-day number, not including the Tahoe Keys is used for this study (we use a 180-day look at the market because it is consistent with the average number of days it takes to sell a South Lake Tahoe house, which is presently 154 days on average.)

South Lake Tahoe, CA median sold price since October, 2009.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 at 9:18 am and is filed under Escrow Report, For Buyers, For Sellers, Foreclosures, Lake Tahoe Real Estate, Major Market Reports, Median Sold Price Report, South Lake Tahoe Statistics, South Lake Tahoe, CA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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