Coldwell Banker 2020 - Real Estate Market Report - North Lake Tahoe -Truckee
Residential Properties – Single Family Homes and Condominiums
Activity January – June 2020
Total Residential Sales:
The last 2 months has been one of the busiest periods, for new transactions, that the Tahoe Truckee area has ever seen. The first 6-7 weeks after the shelter in place orders gave our market pause, but in mid May activity surged and hasn’t showed any signs of slowing down. Activity has blown by what we saw in our busiest months last year.
190 Residences went into contract in May of 2020 (compared to 110 in May 2019)
318 Residences went into contract in June of 2020 (compared to 125 in June 2019)
123 residences went into contract in the first 13 days of July (compared to 150 in the entire month of July 2019)
Our 2 busiest months last year?
170 residences went into contract in August 2019
170 residences went into contract in September 2019
For more perspective, we went from 88 residences in contract on May 13th , to 279 in contract on June 11th, and now 373 on July 13th.
Monitoring closed sales has been a roller coaster this year. Q1 activity was up, followed by April and May numbers that were the lowest we had seen in more than 10 years. At the end of May, we were at 86% of the 10 year average for closed escrows YTD. June, however, turned that around. For the month 185 homes sold. That is 35% higher than the next highest June for the last 10 years (137 sales in June 2017). It is a 59% increase over of the number of sales in June 2019 (116) and 52% higher than the 10 year average for June (122).
Year to Date (January through June) 558 residences have sold. That is a 5% increase over the first half of last year (531 sales) and brings us just above the 10 year average, 554 residences, for first half transactions.
Active Residential Inventory:
Active Listings: This is the time of year when we expect the inventory of homes for sale to build steadily. It is typical to see the number of listings double, or more, between April 1 and July 1. While the number of new listings was in line with what we typically see in May and June, the huge number of new contracts is dropping the active inventory. There are currently just 293 residences actively for sale, down from 382 residences a month ago. Last year at this time there were 640 residences for sale, so our active inventory is about 45% of what it was a year ago (and typically is at this time of year).
Current Pending Sales: As mentioned above 373 residences are in contract as of July 13. A total of 190 properties went into contract in May and a whopping 318 in June. Relative to the activity level in June, there is less than a 1 month supply of inventory actively on the market!! Remember that 2 months ago we were at a 12 month supply relative to the previous 30 days of activity!). What a turnaround.
Coldwell Banker Ranks #1: Among all brokerages in North Lake Tahoe and Truckee, Coldwell Banker continues to rank #1 in total number of sales. For the previous 12 months, Coldwell Banker represented 16.2% of sales. This represents 68% more transactions than our next closest competitor (9.64% of sales).
Median and Average Sales Prices: For the period January through June, the median sales price was $674,500 (up slightly from $669,000 last year) and the average sales price was $986,430 (down from $1,043,139, but that number was skewed by a $37 million sale at Sunnyside. If you remove that sale, the average sale for same period 2019 was $975,296). For the month of June, the median sales price was $706,875, and the average was $987,193.
Median and Average sales prices are going to be interesting to monitor going forward. Looking at pending sales, both Median and Average sales prices are set to surge. The properties currently in contract have a median asking price of $825,000, and an average asking price of $1,183,055. Since a significant number of properties are in contract above asking price, and some far above ask price, the sold numbers could be even higher.
Sales Under $500,000: For the first half of the year, residences priced under $500,000 represented just over 25% of sales or 141 properties sold. Of those sales, 71 were condos. For the same period in 2019 there were 151 properties sold in this price range, 100 of which were condos.
Mid-Range Market Sales $500,000 to $999,999: In the first half of the year, there were 277 sales between $500,000 and $999,999, representing just under 50% of total sales. Twenty five of the sales were condos. For the same period in 2019, there were 253 sales, including 33 condos.
Luxury Home Sales Over $1 Million: 140 properties have sold over $1 million, representing 25% of total sales. This is up from 127 sales in the same period in 2019.
REO & Short Sales: Distressed sales have been very rare the last few years. So far this year, there have been just 3 foreclosure sales.What’s
Going On Looking Forward?
What a wild environment . . . 3 months ago I wondered aloud if the typical market cycles might be delayed. Two months ago, it seemed like we might be back to normal cycles. And, now, the market cycle is turned on its ear . . . make no mistake, even in the best of years May and June are not as busy as this May and June were (from the perspective of homes goinginto contract). As well, early July numbers make it appear that it will dramatically outpace July’s of the past. Why is this happening?
The residential real estate market is solid around most of the country for one primary reason . . . right now, HOME is more important than ever. People are spending more time in their homes than they have before.
In Tahoe, we have a major amplifier to that. The profile of our typical buyer has evolved. People have always wanted to be in Tahoe, but that typically meant buying a vacation home (historically 80% of homes here have been non primary residents). People from the tech industry started to have the ability to move up here, permanently, as much as 20 years ago. In the last 10 years, high speed internet started to allow other professionals to make Tahoe and Truckee home. Even Doctors and Lawyers could consolidate their live meetings into a couple days a week in the Bay Area, and then work from home (in Tahoe) the other days, while keeping their family here full time. The Coronavirus has accelerated that evolution, as people across many industries have been forced to use technology to work from home, and realized they can do it productively. Also, the businesses themselves are now far more comfortable with employees working remotely. This has driven demand for homes in Tahoe to all new levels, and has also changed the timing of demand . . . people want to be here now.
Contact Me to Find Out More about the Opportunities Available in the North Lake Tahoe-Truckee Market.
Note: Data on this page is based on information from the Tahoe Sierra Board of Realtors, MLS. Due to MLS reporting methods and allowable reporting policy, this data is only informational and may not be completely accurate. Therefore, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage does not guarantee the data's accuracy. Data maintained by the MLS may not reflect all real estate activity in the market. CA-BRE License # 1908304