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	MLS#118967 : $493,000 709 Lakeview Ave South Lake Tahoe CA, 96150-2534 Residential Features Beds 2 Baths 2 Living Space 1,352 Date Listed March 02 2012 Details Slideshow Bird's Eye View Calc. Mortgage

Need a change of altitude? 

Hello from Lake Tahoe!  The weather pattern is changing and we woke up to snow this morning for the first time in nearly two months.  Let’s hope we don’t run out of winter before we have enough base to give us the powder skiing we’ve all been waiting for.  On the bright side, the beautiful dry weather has been very conducive to real estate activity.  

East Shore average price was up dramatically in 2011, driven by the sales of 10 lake front properties v. 5 in prior year, while median price remained almost unchanged.  Average South Shore condo sales price was driven higher by a handful of high end distress sales.  Generally, distress sales continue to influence pricing and dominate activity.  While the number of units sold was up in both South Shore and Carson Valley, prices in both areas fell.  Inventory is low in the South Lake Tahoe area.  Nearly one third of South Lake Tahoe listings are in escrow and over half of those in escrow are REOs and Short Sales.

The 2011 real estate market was remarkable in a number of respects:  the number of all cash sales rose from 38% to 46% for all single family and condo transactions, the number of distress sales rose from 29% to 38% and the number of lakefront sales increased from 5 to 10, 7 of which sold for all cash.  Overall, our East Shore single family market remains roughly flat compared to last year both in terms of number of sales and median price.  Our East Shore condo market took a hit with drop a 8% drop in median price.  Median prices overall continue to hover at 2002-2003 levels.

Partially thanks to the lack of snow, the East Shore enjoyed unusually high activity during the holiday season and it appears to continue with buyers writing offers on those properties with the most compelling prices.  There are 107 active single family homes listed, 17 of which are in escrow (a good percentage in this market at any time of year).  Surprisingly, 13 of the 17 went into contract since December 1.  The majority have an asking price of less than $575,000.  12 are short sales or REOs.   Buyers are scooping up the best values and inventory is low. 

If you are a potential seller, waiting for “prices to recover” could take a while.  Case-Shiller recently forecast that home prices will likely appreciate at approximately the rate of inflation as we go forward.  Our low inventories and good buyer activity at present mean that well-priced, properly prepared homes have an excellent chance to sell.

If you are a buyer, you have competition but prices are the lowest in a decade and interest rates are at historic lows.  Are you still waiting for “the bottom”?  Bear in mind that if you plan to finance your purchase, a 1% increase in interest rates wipes out the advantage of a 10% price reduction.

Once again we were top producers in our marketplace. Your business and your referrals are vital to our success and we thank you for your continued support. We hope to hear from you soon.  Call us with your questions or comments.   We wish you the best and are very optimistic about 2012.

We love to talk Real Estate so call us any time!