[Note: the following is the year-end press release on the Lake Tahoe real estate markets by my broker, Chase International.]
For Immediate Release
TAHOE REAL ESTATE MARKET ENDS 2010 ON HIGH NOTE
LAKE TAHOE, Nev. (Jan. 4, 2011) – The Lake Tahoe real estate market ended the decade with strong sales and significant signs of improvement, according to a year-end report from Chase International. The report, which compares all sales and home prices from 2010 to those of 2009, indicated a 16 percent increase in units sold and a 20 percent jump in overall sales volume.
“This is a remarkable improvement from 2009,” said Susan Lowe, corporate broker and senior vice president for Chase International. “These numbers show the regional market stabilizing.”
Tahoe City showed the largest increase in sales with a 40 percent increase in total volume (dollars) and 17 percent rise in units sold. Incline Village saw a 27 percent jump in both units and volume. The median price of a home in Incline Village is $827,000, the highest in the basin, despite a ten percent drop from 2009. The median price of homes sold along Tahoe’s East Shore is $570,000, up five percent over 2009 and for South Shore, the median price remained steady compared to 2009 at $317,000. The overall median price of homes sold in Lake Tahoe is $541,000, down six percent, while the average price remained stable (with a one percent increase) at $897,173.
The National Association of Realtors notes that historically high housing affordability is boosting sales activity across the nation, indicating a gradual recovery into 2011.
“In addition to exceptional affordability conditions, steady improvements in the economy are helping bring buyers into the market,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR. “But further gains are needed to reach normal levels of sales activity.”
The sales of condominiums around the lake are also up substantially with a 48 percent rise in sales volume and 46 percent jump in units sold.
Truckee condos were up 46 percent in both sales and volume. Home sales in Truckee remained relatively flat, with little movement in volume and a five percent increase in number of units sold. The average price of a home in Truckee is $627,093 (down four percent) and the median is $490,000 (down eight percent).
A complete breakdown of Chase International’s year-end sales report can be viewed by clicking on the charts below.
Headquartered in Lake Tahoe, Nevada since 1986, with eight offices in the region (Zephyr Cove, Glenbrook, Incline Village, Tahoe City, Squaw Valley, Truckee, South Lake Tahoe and Reno) and one in London, England, Chase International and its exclusive affiliations handles a large share of the country’s property. A recognized leader in the world of real estate, Chase International continues to grow having added 65 Realtors® to their ranks in the past twelve months.
With 240 professional REALTORS ® boasting an array of industry certifications and the highest volume per sales agent in the area, Chase International successfully represents homes at all price levels. For more information about Chase International visit www.chaseinternational.com.
Raymond
So the median price of houses at Incline Village dropped 10% last year?
Worse than Reno?
I thought it was different there.
Walter
Sorry Guy, but this is a piece of realtor shill spincrap. She touts that units sales are up and total sales dollar volume is up, but barely acknowledges that prices are DOWN.
DOWN 10% at Incline Village, DOWN 6% lakewide, DOWN 8% in Truckee.
Who really gives a crap about total sales dollar volume or numbers of units sold? All people care about is price, and it looks like prices were DOWN all over Tahoe, mostly in Incline.
Norton
Jezzuz, she quotes Lawrence Yun.
Need say anymore?
Rubiconer
Ms. Lowe has taken a shot at applying the proverbial lipstick on a pig.
What else can she say in the face of declining prices?
Curious
I am sure that a certain frequent commenter on this blog will soon be here to assure us all the even though the median price of houses in Incline Village dropped 10% last year, that the value of HIS house at Incline Village in fact went up.
smarten
You’re wrong Curious. If the value of my house dropped 10% last year, then so be it. But you won’t learn that fact from Susan Lowe’s numbers for two reasons. First of all, her numbers really aren’t SFR numbers. They’re a blend of PUD and SFR numbers. For those less familiar with the term PUD, as local agents use the term, it means a detached condominium. Generally IV PUDs are smaller than IV SFRs, and on average, they sell for less.
Second of all, IV isn’t like Reno/Sparks where there are large SFR subdivisions comprised of very similar cookie-cutter homes. So it’s not an easy task [although not impossible] to pick out true comparable sales.
Besides, rising or dropping values have little meaning to homeowners [as contrasted to investors] who have no plans to sell in the immediate future. As I’ve observed before, time heals all wounds. Let’s have this discussion ten years from now if you’re still around.
skeptical
Hmmmmm…… round one to curious……
Carney
Now we get to hear the Smarten spincrap…..the median is not really the median because in Incline Village we have SFRs and PUDs and PUDs are not really SFRs because they are more like condos but they are not really condos…and so in Incline Village, where everything is different because it is so special the median does not mean what it means in Reno……..blah blah blah….
this guy just cannot STAND to be wrong.
Round One to Curious by a large margin.
inclinejj
I have to call my buddy Michael Buffer. Letssssssssssssss get readddddddddddddddddddddddy to rumbleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
I don’t have time to look up the listing history but look up 517 Fairview what it was orginally listed at. A tad over 6 million when it was being finished to a sales price of
$2,625,000
DanvilleDan
but, but I thought prices always went up at Incline Village.
drive by
Maybe they should change around the name to Decline Village.
Irv
Drive By, that is funny; there may be a spot for you at the comedy show at Harvey’s on the south shore.
MikeZ
Now we get to hear the Smarten spincrap…..the median is not really the median because in Incline Village we have SFRs and PUDs and PUDs are not really SFRs because they are more like condos but they are not really condos
It’s not spin, it’s fact: PUDs are not SFRs.
Martin
Decline Village. That’s good. That’s really good. I will have to remember that one.
SVC2
Bottom line up front: IV medians are down y-o-y and Smarten’s logic is flawed.
The year was good (…if you were an AGENT):
Guy’s above cited and report from Sue Lowe enthusiastically proclaims that the year ended on a high note for Tahoe real estate. For RE agents, one could argue that she is correct. After all, in terms of VOLUME, numbers are up. Sales volumes and units sold are both up y-o-y. Volume is good for agents because they get paid in commissions for each sale. From an AGENT’S perspective, the year did show improvement.
But notso good (if you were an owner or seller….)
However, what buyers and sellers care most about is PRICE. And, as tangentially and quietly referred to in the article, IV median sales prices were DOWN 10%! The year hardly ended on an up note if you were a potential seller who waited until the end of 2010 to unload. You lost money by waiting. Maybe it was an up note, though, if you are a potential buyer.
Now, as for Smarten’s assertion that Sue Lowe’s stats are irrelevant to his property… Smarten states her numbers are not SFR numbers because PUDs are included, and PUDs are really condos anyway, and he doesn’t own a PUD.
Well, PUDs are not condos. I googled it and came up with this great explanation here:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/los-angeles/617843-what-pud-home.html
In short, a PUD is a detached property where you don’t own the yard. You still own the ground under the house (unlike condos where that ground is commonly held by other tenants). So, you can’t say that PUDs don’t count. They are real property, and the fact that they are prevalent in IV means they should count with any assessment of Tahoe RE trends.
Last point, if you have volume of over 100 units sold y-o-y, and the classification of that data is unchanged (PUD + SFR), then the data has validity. Smarten is suggesting that ONLY PUDs went down in price last year and SFR prices were totally stable, despite price declines in every other segment of the Tahoe RE market.
Really, the burden of proof should be on Smarten to show why HIS chateau is immune to the rather depressing IV price data so enthusiastically trumpeted by Ms. Lowe as great news.
“I’m right, and if I’m wrong it really doesn’t matter anyway because I’ll hold for another 10 years” just does not persuade me that Mr. Smarten has any credibility at all on this one.
nevhomeowner
But Zillow says my house went up in value . . . and it’s not a PUD!!!!
inclinejj
Honestly, RE agents and brokers should be out getting listings, putting out fires, going to closings instead of doing a market report any 10 minutes..
Anything the local board or the NAR puts out is pure spin cause it is always an excellent time to buy a house.
Hit spin cycle and the yap yap yap comes out of the agents mouth..
Btw that house on Fairview is your next new low comp!!!