Now that we are 5 months into the 2017 sales year, it is apparent that there is a severe lack of Lake Tahoe real estate inventory. Buyer demand is fevered and with minimal inventory, we are seeing the average marketing times shrink significantly and the median home price is on the rise. With the lack of inventory, we are seeing a reduction in sales volume which is causing other indicators (see below) to show false negatives. The bottom line is that there is not enough inventory to satisfy buyer demand.
Buyers are anxious to purchase Lake Tahoe property, but until recently there has been extremely limited inventory which has caused an 18% decrease in sales volume. When good quality homes come on the market they are getting lots of attention which has caused the median home price to rise 5% in the first five months of the year.
Currently, there are 127 homes under contract with an average price of $886,000 and there are 25 homes priced above $1M which shows me that the North Lake Tahoe markets are heating up going into the 4th of July weekend. The high number of $1M+ escrows show me that the luxury market remains solid and will continue to pull the other market segments up as the year progresses.
The sub $600K price point is extremely active and buyer activity is through the roof. The average marketing time for all Tahoe/Truckee homes is 97 days, but the sub $600K price point has an average marketing time of only 26 days! Although inventory levels are increasing at a slow rate, we continue to see excess demand. If you are looking at homes in the sub $600K price point you will most likely experience strong competition and multiple offer scenarios.