South Lake Tahoe, CA Market Statistics
- All Sales in the last 365 Days
- Absorption Rates - Last 365 Days
- All 2011 South Lake Tahoe, CA Sales
- All 2010 South Lake Tahoe, CA Sales
- All 2009 South Lake Tahoe, CA Sales
- All Current Escrow - South Lake Tahoe, CA
- Al Tahoe, CA
- Bijou, CA
- Black Bart, CA
- Christmas Valley, CA
- Gardner Mountain, CA
- Heavenly Valley, CA
- Highland Woods, CA
- Meyers, CA
- Montgomery Estates, CA
- Pioneer Trail, CA
- North Upper Truckee, CA
- Sierra Tract, CA
- S. Lake Tahoe Condos, CA
- The Tahoe Keys Condos, CA
- Stateline Area, CA
- Tahoe Island Drive, CA
- Tahoe Island Park, CA
- The Tahoe Keys, CA
- Tahoe Paradise, CA
- Y Area, CA
Stateline, NV Market Statistics
- All Sales in the Last 365 Days
- Absorption Rates - Last 365 Days
- All 2011 Stateline, NV Sales
- All 2010 Stateline, NV Sales
- All 2009 Stateline, NV Sales
- All Current Escrow - Stateline, NV
- Cave Rock, NV
- Glenbrook, NV
- Hidden Woods, NV
- Kingsbury (Lower), NV
- Kingsbury (Middle), NV
- Kingsbury (Upper), NV
- Lakefront Properties, NV
- Round Hill, NV
- Skyland, NV
- Summit Tahoe Village (Condos), NV
- Lake Village TownHomes, NV
- Zephyr Heights, NV
Stat Counter
Archive for September, 2010
In a South Lake Tahoe Indian Summer
September 28th, 2010 categories: For Buyers, For Sellers, Lake Tahoe Real Estate, South Lake Tahoe Events, South Lake Tahoe, CA, Stateline, NV, Video Seminar Series
One more round of South Lake Tahoe summer!
Wow, it's a summer repeat here in South Lake Tahoe this week, and the weather has been simply out of this world.
We're using our fans again, all of them, and each day for some time now has been a cloudless Lake Tahoe blue sky.
We thought you'd appreciate this video of some of our summer activities, and you know there will be more coming.
Some of our other South Lake Tahoe videos:
Emerald Bay Treetops and a Bald Eagle (here)
Walking on South Lake Tahoe Water (here)
Lake Tahoe Summer Fun (here)
Al Tahoe Neighborhood Review (here)
| Discussion: Please leave a comment.
August Existing Home Sales… and South Lake Tahoe
September 24th, 2010 categories: For Buyers, For Sellers, Lake Tahoe Real Estate, National real estate news, South Lake Tahoe Statistics, South Lake Tahoe, CA
There is more South Lake Tahoe, CA median price decline in August than the national average.
This one comes from CNNMoney.com, and it's the August US existing home sales report via the National Association of Realtors NAR). Lets look at that first, then we'll compare August US housing trends to that of South Lake Tahoe, CA.
You may find it of interest, like we did, that the CNN writer, after stating that existing home sales "bounced back", he felt compelled to add "after plunging nearly 30% the previous month."
First of all, US July existing home sales declined 27% compared to last July. That's not 30%, though we realize that's a better headline. But we're not interested in sensational headlines; we're not selling news, or ratings, or news driven advertising. What we do is provide the best information possible about South Lake Tahoe real estate… whatever that might be.
We've written much about that July existing housing report, and we'll provide links to some of it at the end of this post. In our comparative research on July home sales, that big, sensational news-driven report of a 27% national decline was actually 7 home sales less here. In July only.
Especially in these testy economic times, unless the national news media takes the time to put real estate reporting into meaningful context, we don't find it responsible to the public they serve. When one considers how a media giant reports politics, though, and each one has a pro-or con agenda about one party or the other, which is a tangent we won't get on, then it makes sense that real estate reporting too could very well use some good cleaning up.
We might add "meaningful context" to us would include statements such as "real estate market trends and conditions vary from market to market." Something that simple could well help public perception, because for example we all know that real estate trends will be different in cities with job opportunity vs cities where there is little employment prospect, and it also makes sense that national trends will vary from primary home markets to vacation resort markets like South Lake Tahoe… that have a rather fixed supply due to responsible environmental growth controls.
In other words, and this term is part of our industry lexicon, "all real estate is local." In the case here, some of our resort stats are better than the national trend, and some are notably worse. But the point is it's different!
In any event, here's some bullet points of the US August existing home sales report (full article here):
Existing home sales bounced back in August after plunging nearly 30% in the previous month.
- Sales of previously-owned homes in August rose 7.6%.
- That's up from July, but down 19% from a year ago.
- National housing inventory is now 11.6 months.
- US median sold price declined 1.9% from July, and up .8% from a year ago.
- About a third of US August home sales were in foreclosure.
The CNNMoney.com report includes comments made by Mark Tepper, a managing partner of Strategic Wealth Partners. He includes, "we're still down 21.5% from June and sales dropped significantly in July, so the hurdle was just so low that you almost had to beat it."
Tepper further adds: "If you're a homeseller, sell now if you can. If you're looking to buy, wait a while. That's because prices are likely to sink another 10% to 25% in the next 18 to 24 months as the economic recovery remains sluggish." He adds, "this whole housing mess is a disaster that's going to last a while."
We find the choice to find Tepper and have him comment on this NAR report from this point of view interesting. It was eight days ago that Brett Arends wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal entitled "Ten Reasons to buy a Home" (article here, and our take on that here).
Three days ago, in an article entitled "Double-dip Recession Risk: Unlikely, but Rising", CNN filed a report based on a survey of 31 top national economists, and you know what, and it's hardly a surprise, those 31 different economists had a different opinion as to the state of the US economy, which certainly includes the housing market. (article here, and out take on that here).
So here's our question, if esteemed economists, and the media can not seem to agree about the state of things, why not include differing points of view in real estate reports? In this case our opinion is that Mark Tepper's position should have been balanced with that of Brett Arends, or anyone else responsible with a similar position.
About South Lake Tahoe, CA :
August Home Sales:
August 2009 sales: 44
August 2010 sales: 50
difference: 6 home sales more ( 13.6% ), or 6.2% more than the national increase in August home sales from this year to last.)
August Housing Inventory: (based on 180-day absorption rates)
August 2009 supply: 13.1 months
August 2010 supply: 9.0 months (this is better)
difference: 4.1 months less (+31.2%), or 2.6 months less supply than the August national report)
Median Sold Price: (Tahoe Keys not included)
July 2010 sales: $324,500
August 2009 sales: $307,500
August 2010 sales: $274,000
difference: $17,000 less in median sold price from July to August this year, and $33,000 less from August last year to August this year (notably more than the national average)
Foreclosure:
Percent of distressed sales in August 2009: 31.1%
Percent of distressed sales in August 2010: 46%
difference: 14.9% increase, or about 13% more than the national trend of a third of August home sales were distressed.
The chart below indicates all South Lake Tahoe, CA home sales by month since 2003.
Other posts to consider:
September 22, 2010: Babe Ruth and Housing Stats
August 27, 2010: I Woke Up this Morning to the South Lake Tahoe Blues
July 1, 2010: South Lake Tahoe Foreclosures: No Change Yet.
May 15, 2010: Where is the New Foreclosures Deluge?
November 15, 2009: Foreclosure Filings Down in October, what does it mean?
November 24, 2008: Sometimes South Lake Tahoe and National Real Estate Trends just don't Jive
| Discussion: Please leave a comment.
Emerald Bay Treetops… a South Lake Tahoe Bald Eagle, and no short sales!
September 23rd, 2010 categories: About Us, Lake Tahoe Real Estate, Video Seminar Series
There is Joy in Every South Lake Tahoe Nook and Cranny!
OK, we admit it, we're suckers for Emerald Bay… anytime. We've been out there a lot lately, checking on South Lake Tahoe Bald Eagle and Osprey real estate. Sometimes we're seduced, if not flat overcome by the lair where eagles dare.
As the video shows, we found a few, and what's even more impostersome (a made-up word, onomonopia like) is none of the eagles nests were up for a shot sale! Wonders in the wonderland never cease.
When we finally did meet up with Baldy, we asked him about treetop nest prices, and he, or maybe it was a she, just glared at us like we were stupid. Fish we thought were on its mind and little else.
One good thing about our tete a tete with wildlife in this nature haven was neither the ospreys or eagles had a differening opinion about the economy, or our country or the world in general. They seemed unified in singular purpose, and from that, passing under them in our boat, all we could ponder on was hope.
We hope you enjoy this brief, tranquil respite as much as we did.
Some of our other videos:
Walking on South Lake Tahoe Water (here)
Lake Tahoe Summer Fun (here)
Al Tahoe Neighborhood Review (here)
| Discussion: Please leave a comment.
Babe Ruth, US Housing Starts and South Lake Tahoe
September 22nd, 2010 categories: For Buyers, For Sellers, Lake Tahoe Real Estate, South Lake Tahoe, CA, Stateline, NV
What Does the Sultan of Swat have to do with the South Lake Tahoe housing market anyway?
We looked at two reports that came out yesterday about home construction, one by the Associated Press and the other in the New York Times. The source of these was yesterday's release by the US Department of Commerce.
Lets look at the lead and difference in tone between the Associated Press and the New York Times. Here's the AP lead: "Home construction increased last month and applications for building permits also grew. The gains were driven mainly by apartment and condominium construction, not the much larger single-family homes sector."
Here's the NYT lead: "Housing starts in the United States increased more than expected in August to their highest level in four months and permits for residential construction also rose, government data showed on Tuesday, suggesting that the embattled market was starting to stabilize following the end of a tax credit."
We realize we're talking nuance here, but the NYT chooses a more positive take than does AP… on presumably the exact same data from our Department of Commerce.
The NY Times further states that this is the largest housing start increase since last November. The Associated Press says this is the highest level since April. (NYT article here, AP article here)
More interestingly as it relates to tone, or reader impression for that matter, the Associated Press continues with this: "Housing starts are up 25 percent from their bottom in April 2009. But they remain 74 percent below their peak in January 2006. Single-family housing starts are up 11 percent from their low point in January 2009, but down 78 percent from their peak in January 2006."
So we're up, but really more down than up, all things considering? We must compare any growth against the all-time high? That's what the Associated Press would have us believe, yet that comparison, that we're 78% off where we were four years ago, appears no where in the New York Times article.
A Baseball Metaphor?
For some reason I thought of Babe Ruth when I read the AP's qualifier, you know to put us into context, about yesterday's somewhat better, and perhaps wee encouraging housing construction news. The mind, OK my mind I admit, associates things confoundingly, and I don't know what or why it triggered, but I wondered what would happen if the ebbs and flows of Babe Ruth's career were reported in the same manner as the US housing market is reported on today.
So I did a little research…
In 1921 the Babe hit 59 home runs. At that time it was the most home runs anybody hit in one season. Ever.
Two years prior to that, in 1919, Babe Ruth broke the major league home run record with 29 home runs. That then was the most ever, and that broke the prior record of 27 home runs hit by Ned Williamson of the Chicago White Stockings in 1884, a record that had stood for 35 years.
This means that Babe Ruth doubled the previous home run record in 1921 that he had set in 1919. Four years later, in 1925 however, he hit 25 home runs. I can't find this headline, or lead into a sports article anywhere that reads like this: "Home Runs Down off their 1921 high: Babe Ruth down by 40.6% in 1925."
In 1927 Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs. One more than the most ever. Four years later, he hit 46 home runs. But I bet his 1931 home run output wasn't characterized in the media as "23.3% decline off it's all time high."
(Babe Ruth career stats here, Baseball home run stats here)
Another Thought:
Yes, the US housing market is down, and so is that of South Lake Tahoe. But both are up compared to last year, and there is a somewhat notable uptick in demand on the South Lake Tahoe, CA side of our market. Prices have been essentially the same for almost a year now, and they are somewhere between what they were in late 2002 and early 2003.
This means home values are much higher than they were in 1997, or 2000 or 2001 for that matter. So where are we down really? We're down against our all time high.
Babe Ruth, where are you now?
Other posts of possible interest:
September 20, 2010: Chicken Little, Chicken Big, No Chicken, and other economic predictions
August 11, 2010: Tracking the South Lake Tahoe, CA Median Sold Price
June 23, 2010: What about South Lake Tahoe Housing Demand?
May 10, 2010: South Lake Tahoe, CA Housing Demand and Absorption Rates
February 22, 2010: South Lake Tahoe, CA Real Estate Demand and Absorption Rates
| Discussion: Please leave a comment.
Chicken Little, Chicken Big, No Chicken… and other Economic Predictions
September 21st, 2010 categories: For Buyers, For Sellers, Lake Tahoe Real Estate, National real estate news
That "Double Dip" phrase again, it's not likely to happen… maybe!
Well, all we can say is they are at it again. And from all of their pontificating, a survey of 31 U.S. economists tells us this: we're not likely to slip back into recession… unless we do.
Reports like this one from CNNMoney.com today remind us of that esteemed Bronx oracle, Yogi Berra: when you come to a fork in the road, take it. That aside, one thing we do know is things are rarely clear in the predicting business. Especially the economic predicting business.
Whether Yogi was behind the scene notwithstanding, the CNN report comes from a survey of top U.S. economists. One more than thirty of them, and here's some key bullet points of their accumulated wisdom:
- Will the United States slip back into recession? Not likely.
- The risk of a double-dip recession is rising, but there is only about a one-in-four chance of that happening.
- Economists agree that high unemployment, weak growth, little improvement in home values — isn't going away anytime soon.
- More than half of those surveyed agree the chance of a double-dip recession has risen since the start of the year.
- Three economists believe there is less risk than there was in the spring.
- Nine economists surveyed left their forecasts unchanged.
- One economist says we've been talking about a double-dip for at least nine months. He says the risk of that is 25%, the same thing he said six months ago.
- Three economists put the risk of a double-dip as high as 40%.
- Two economists put the risk at only 5%.
- A third of the economists sees no chance of a double-dip recession at all.
- One economist says "don't bet against this economy."
- Two days ago, The National Bureau of Economic Research declared that the Great Recession that started in December 2007 came to an end in June 2009.
What's interesting about this survey to us is the number of people involved. We all know that it's difficult for two people to agree on things, and thirty-one of them compounds agreement exponentially. So really, the news here is… there really is no news at all.
In conclusion, baseball and economic pundits aside, having now read and reported on this, it's now clear that when I do come to that fork in the road, I'm going to go left. For sure,…er, …or, maybe I better turn right. No, better yet, I'm going to look at that fork… and ask for a salad!
Other posts just as clear 
August 27, 2010: I Woke Up this Morning to the South Lake Tahoe Blues
July 1, 2010: South Lake Tahoe Foreclosures: No Change Yet.
May 15, 2010: Where is the New Foreclosures Deluge?
November 15, 2009: Foreclosure Filings Down in October, what does it mean?
November 24, 2008: Sometimes South Lake Tahoe and National Real Estate Trends just don't Jive
| Discussion: Please leave a comment.
How does a South Lake Tahoe Realtor sell a Rancho Cordova House?
September 20th, 2010 categories: About Us, Lake Tahoe Real Estate, South Lake Tahoe, CA, Stateline, NV
It has to do with trusting another real estate pro.
It was here in this Rancho Cordova house just outside of Sacramento where I got that dreaded call about Spanky (see below). It was Maxene, crying, calling from the South Lake Tahoe / Reno vet. Sweet boy had a mass on his liver. And that was that.
With a lump in my throat, breathing in audible gasps, I kept taking picture coverage of this house, and our client's husband who accompanied me was as gentle and supportive as possible. It's one of the nicest outcomes of doing what we do; things happen… and clients become friends.
How we got there :
Our clients are a family we have been working with for a while. They have an estate trust of multiple houses in four different states. Most all have to be sold, some are distressed and have to be sold short, some have mortgages and some are free and clear.
We have been doing research to help them for the last 6 weeks. This has involved introductions and discussions with estate attorneys, short sale attorneys, 3rd-part short sale specialists, tax accountants and the family CPA.
The House :
The first house that has to be sold is the one in Rancho Cordova above. It's not relevant to this missive to go into house details, but it was in poor condition; it has some cosmetic damage from tenants (squatters really) who had to be forcibly evicted.
It also had to be sold quickly.
How a South Lake Tahoe Realtor sells elsewhere :
The process is called a "referral", and it is a usual and customary practice in our industry. Essentially this involves one agent finding another elsewhere to sell a house for them.
Usually when we have a house to refer, we look for an agent that is a CRS (Certified Residential Specialist), which we believe is the sole professional real estate credential that matters. Beyond that, we look for a CRS agent that has their own website… and their own real estate blog.
We find it important to find other agents who write about real estate and their local market frequently, if not daily, like we do. We find these are the most alert and market aware, and they are also the most helpful and service oriented.
Usually we look for another agent first on Active Rain, the professional real estate blog made up of agents across the country. Some of the best agents in our industry are there, and in our three plus years of being on Active Rain, we know a lot of them, and many are friends.
For the Sacramento area though, we don't have to look because a few Active Rain members immediately come to mind. We called Elizabeth Weintraub first. We came to know her first because she is one of the principal writers about real estate on About.com, and we also know her from her Active Rain presence as well.
In calling Elizabeth, our first thought was if she served Rancho Cordova or not. She does, and was willing to take this rather special project on. The reason why I had gone to the house and photographed it beforehand was to best know about and describe the house and situation to her so that both of us would know what would be involved.
Pricing it:
Like most housing sales, and maybe even more so these days, the first challenge was pricing the house properly. Though we are licensed in California, and could have listed the house ourselves, we don't know an outside market like one should to best represent our clients interests. All real estate markets are different. Thus Elisabeth and the referral.
There was some purposeful damage from the tenant; the house was filthy, and some appliances had been stolen, which made evaluation even more of a challenge. Having to sell quickly also added more complexity to finding the right price.
It took Elizabeth a day to find it, and I admit her price model was somewhat lower than our clients expected. It was a little lower than we expected too, but when one uses a pro for help, one has to trust (it's a faith and teamwork sort of thing).
Elizabeth explained that if the price was too low, the market would recognize it, and we would get multiple offers right away. If so, it was likely that would produce a higher price.
So What Happened ?
One thing we like about a referral with another pro is we get copied on everything. That allows us to stay on top of and be aware of the other agent's progress with our clients. In this case that was particularly important because there are other houses and an estate strategy in the mix.
One thing we didn't like about this one, and we're being facetious, is all of the paperwork we did get copied on: there were 11 offers on the house in two days (all of which was during the loss of our beloved family pet).
So here's what Elizabeth Weintraub did for our clients: the house is set to close in 14 days, and the family estate is getting 25% more than the original listing price of the house.
It's a faith thing.
| Discussion: Please leave a comment.
Spanky, truly this man’s best friend.
September 19th, 2010 categories: About Us
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You will have to forgive me, but I have been playing injured the last few days. I admit that I'm a real wuss on this one, but we just lost Spanky… and it hurts like hell.
I understand that everybody's pet is special, and the unconditional love that comes from them is dear, and important to us all. Dear Spanky fit that bill exactly. I miss him so.
We had friends visiting us during Spanky's last mile, which came quicker than we thought. Their visit was a rare sharing of… well…, real stuff that bonds. Brad Andersohn and his lovely wife Debra helped us deal with the difficult decisions at hand.
I can't begin to write about Spanky in any more depth than this on this Sunday morning, but Brad did a piece about our chocolate lab lap dog in Active Rain, a real estate blog network that we've been part of for years now.
Maxene, Olivier, my brother and partner Gary, and his wife Jane and I can not read Brad's piece yet. But it is here.
I am told that many of our real estate friends across the country have commented on Brad's loving post. He also took the image above. We thought we'd like to share another side of us… and the friends we have across this country. All of which came from a shared passion of writing about what we do, who we are, and who we gratefully serve.
Life is so precious… and we are certainly thinking about that today.
| Discussion: Please leave a comment.
Our Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog Reviewed
September 17th, 2010 categories: About this Blog, About Us, Lake Tahoe Real Estate
Blog Review for www.laketahoerealestateblog.com
We didn't ask for this, but we're sure happy about it. Actually it's a really nice, welcomed surprise. We didn't know what to think when we were contacted via email a few days ago, one that asked us for permission to have our blog reviewed.
That email came in amid a flurry of activity, we agreed, and the truth is I pretty much didn't think about us being reviewed thereafter. Until it came in yesterday.
Everybody likes hearing nice things said about them, but what gave me pause with this is the writer really did read a lot of our posts. He dug deep into our information resource, and some of his comments, while tremendously gratifying, exactly captures our purpose of providing information you can trust about Lake Tahoe and Us.
Review in entirety below. Find it online at its source here.
Reviewed by Kyle Chezum (09/16/10)
Richard Bolen is a real estate agent who operates a blog focused on the housing market in the South Lake Tahoe, CA, area. His blog covers topics related to market news, local conditions, macroeconomic trends, and more, and it's the best we've seen about the Tahoe area.
The first notable characteristic of Richard's blog is his style. This is not a quality to ignore. Many blogs, though informative, are difficult to understand and laborious to read. Richard's blog is not one of these. He is a gifted writer, and he communicates clearly and cleverly in his posts.
Richard provides detailed reports on real estate market conditions on a regular basis. These reports include monthly home sales, total home sales, distressed property home sales, sales-to-date, median prices, and other statistics. This analysis will prove invaluable to anyone seeking information on the Lake Tahoe community. But Richard is not just a numbers guy.
He spends significant time reporting on the beauty of the Lake Tahoe area. One post in particular describes in heartfelt detail the wonder of living in such a quiet, refreshing place, high in the mountains, surrounded by clear air. He describes the serene Tahoe lifestyle in detail and claims that there is value to be found there beyond simply real estate, though he certainly advocates the value of the local land and homes as well.
He covers local news as well as national news. He even gives his feedback and professional analysis of major stories and columns run in papers such as the New York Times. He does this with wit, intelligence, and a hint of sarcasm. His work is enjoyable to read and valuable to study.
All told, Richard's blog is an excellent resource for potential homebuyers who wish to learn about real estate in the South Lake Tahoe, CA, area. Check out what he has to say at www.laketahoerealestateblog.com.
| Discussion: Please leave a comment.
Walking on Water… South Lake Tahoe Style!
September 16th, 2010 categories: About this Blog, For Buyers, Lake Tahoe Beauty, Lake Tahoe Real Estate, South Lake Tahoe, CA, Stateline, NV, Video Seminar Series
"SUP" comes to South Lake Tahoe… and Stand Up Paddleboarding is a very cool thing!
We shot this early one morning in August not far from South Lake Tahoe's wonderful public pier in Bijou. Stand up paddleboarding, we think, is here to stay.
The first time we saw this was in Emerald Bay, two folks water trekking peacefully along the shoreline. With bald eagles circling overhead. Wish we had our camera then.
Some of our other South Lake Tahoe videos:
– Al Tahoe neighborhood movie (here)
– South Lake Tahoe Summer Fun! (here)
| Discussion: Please leave a comment.
WSJ: Top 10 Reasons to Buy a House Right Now!
September 15th, 2010 categories: Buyers Report, For Buyers, For Sellers, Lake Tahoe Real Estate, National real estate news, South Lake Tahoe, CA, Stateline, NV
If it's good enough for the Wall Street Journal… it may be good enough for South Lake Tahoe
The Wall Street Journal article doesn't single out South Lake Tahoe in its article today, but lets all stop for a moment and consider why this renowned fiscally conservative journal might take a position like this… and why owning a Lake Tahoe vacation paradise home now just might be a good thing.
We even like the article's subhead: Enough with the doom and gloom about homeownership.
We've got some readers who won't like this one, but it's from the Wall Street Journal, not us. Lets look at the key 10 points made by the author, Brett Arends, and then we'll link you to the whole article for the details.
We'll even copy it below the fold because, as you may know, the WSJ sometimes makes folks pay for their archives (look at it, the magazine cover images are pretty).
Here's why some think now is a good time to buy:
1. You Can Get a Good Deal
2. Mortgages are Cheap
3. You will Save on Taxes
4. It will be Yours (exactly what you want)
5. You will get a better home
6. It offers some inflation protection
7. It's risk capital
8. It's forced savings
9. There are many choices
10. Sooner or later the market will clear.
(full article here)
| Discussion: Please leave a comment.
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