Lake Tahoe and Truckee real estate analysis

A Lake Tahoe and Truckee Real Estate Newsletter for my Clients and Friends

Lake Tahoe and Truckee

Year End Market Analysis

As of December 31, 2011

Market Summary and Analysis

Low interest rates are still available making owning a home affordable.

· As of Sunday, January 8, 2012, interest rates have remained very low. For your information purposes only, the below rates are listed as they were listed on the internet for that day.

· 3.875% for the 30 year fixed conforming loans up to $417,000.

· 3.250% for the 15 year fixed conforming loans up to $417,000.

· 3.875% for the 30 year fixed super conforming loans up to $562,500.

· 4.125% for the 30 year fixed Jumbo loans.

Below is the 2011 year end real estate market summary for Tahoe Donner, Truckee, and North Lake Tahoe. Graphs that support the market analysis are shown directly after the analysis.

· For Tahoe Donner, the median sold price for single family homes has almost leveled off at $500,000. Home prices have been decreasing at about -4%/year for 2011 and 2010 as measured by the average sold price per square foot.

· For Tahoe Donner, bank and short sales have steadily decreased for the past three years to 15.81% as a percentage of total sales.

· Tahoe Donner averaged 18 homes sold per month for 2011, which is slightly below the 2009 and 2010 averages of 19 homes sold per month.

· Tahoe Donner’s current absorption rate is 4 months of unsold active inventory, which is considered a Sellers market (6 months of inventory is considered a neutral market). Months of inventory is the number of active homes divided by the average monthly home sales for the last 3 months. Stated another way, if no additional homes came on the market it would take 4 months to sell the existing inventory if the home sales per month stayed constant.

· For Truckee, the drop in the median sold price for single family homes has slowed to about -6%/year for 2011 and 2010 as measured by the average sold price per square foot. The median sold price was $439,000 for single family homes.

· For Truckee, bank and short sales have steadily increased for the last three years to 31.41% as a percentage of total sales .

· Truckee averaged 45 homes sold per month for 2011, which greatly exceeds the 2009 and 2010 averages of about 38 homes sold per month.

· Truckee’s absorption rate is 4 months of unsold active inventory, which is considered a Sellers market

· Lake Tahoe had a -15.52% decrease in the sold price of single family homes for 2011 as measured by the average sold price per square foot. The median sold price was $430,000 for single family homes.

· For Lake Tahoe bank and short sales were 28.74% for 2011 as a percentage of total sales.

· Lake Tahoe averaged 21 homes sold per month for 2011, which is the same as 2010.

· Lake Tahoe’s absorption rate is 8 months of unsold active inventory, which is considered a Buyers market.

Market Statistics

All data is from the Tahoe Sierra Multiple Listing Service (MLS). This information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Local communities with amenities

As of December 31, 2011

Tahoe Donner still has a wider price range of homes for sale than other Truckee communities with amenities.

The number of home sales in Tahoe Donner continues to be strong. Sales in the other communities with amenities continue to be almost non-existent. The reason is likely in the following chart “Median price for homes sold”. Tahoe Donner also has the best overall amenities!

Truckee communities with fewer amenities

As of December 31, 2011

The price range for communities with fewer amenities is shown in the chart below (Glenshire does have several tennis courts, a swimming pool, and a clubhouse).