South Lake Tahoe: A Buyer's Market... Not a "Bad" Market.

South Lake Tahoe Buyers... and a Good Deal.

(LAKE TAHOE REAL ESTATE BLOG) Our South Lake Tahoe real estate market changed on the heels of Katrina. Katrina came with an increase in the price of gas, plus a near 1% spike in interest rates... and a real blow to US consumer confidence. And it was immediate.

By the last quarter of 2005, one could statistically track that our market had changed from a Sellers market to a buyers market, one that remains so now.

Good News for Buyers :
Since then we have been battling a natioal perception, one driven chiefly by the news media, that the US real estate market is "bad." It is true that prices have declined, and so has demand. But the benefit of that is one for buyers. They have more choice, and can purchase a home for less than it would have cost in the first half of 2005. That can't be anything but good news for any home buyer.

Good News for Sellers :
Convincing a Seller that a buyers market is good news can be rather tricky. Here in South Lake Tahoe that would be rather impossible to do with a seller who has only owned their home for two years or less. Chances are they would sell at a loss if they chose to sell now.

For Sellers who have owned their home for 5 years or more, there is good profit to be made... even in this market. In fact, home values since 2002 in South Lake Tahoe have increased by an average of 47%, and this includes the recent declines we have seen in value since Katrina.

Are there any Buyers out there?
There certainly are. And they are for the most part smart, informed and market aware. Mostly they are tech savvy, internet home shoppers, and they are all looking for what they consider a good deal.

Houses that are priced properly can sell quickly, and about a third of them do. In fact 33.6% of our recent home sales have sold in 90 days or less ... at 95% of list price.

In one sense things have not changed. Like before, there is an immediate appetite for anything that is a good deal. In fact we have seen rapid, multiple offers on well priced homes recently.