Residential Sales Summary 2020
Total Residential Sales:
How busy is the Tahoe/Truckee real estate market? Record shattering . . .
The last 5 months has been the busiest period the Tahoe Truckee real estate market has ever seen. In mid May activity surged and hasn’t showed any signs of slowing down. Activity has blown by what we saw in our busiest months on record.
Prior to 2020, the record for number of sales in a single month was 182 (August 2017). We have blown by that number in each of the last 3 months. In July, 292 residences sold in the primary market areas (Emerald Bay to Crystal Bay, Squaw, Alpine, Northstar, Truckee, and Donner Summit). That’s 60% higher than the old record!! August promptly followed suit with 265 residential sales, which is 46% higher than the previous record. More of the same in September, with 288 sales, which is 58% higher than the old record. October is poised to approach a similar number of closings, and November numbers should be high as well.
Third quarter total transactions adds up to 841. Which is 85% higher than the average for the previous 5 years, and more than double the 10 year average.
Year to Date (January through September) 1,406 residences have sold. That is already more sales than the entire year of 2019 (when there were 1,399 sales)!! It is also a 42% increase over the same period last year (989 sales) and brings us to 139% of the 10 year average for the period (1,011). For perspective, at the end of May, we were at just 86% of the 10 year average for closed sales YTD.
Active Residential Inventory:
Active Listings: There are currently just 296 residences actively for sale, down from 588 at this time last year. Contrary to what you might think at first glance, the number of new listings in 2020 is actually up almost 13% compared to the same period last year. Typically the number of new listings dwindles after Labor Day. However, this year, sellers are still entering the market in hopes of taking advantage of the strong seller’s market. There were twice as many new listings, 293, in September 2020 as there were in September 2019 (141). The 293 new listings is also in the same range as what we saw in the “normal listing season” (May through August, which ranged between 265 to 340 listings in each month). So, despite more homes coming on the market, our active inventory is only about 50% of what it was a year ago (and typically is at this time of year).
Current Pending Sales: To achieve record sales, you have to have record numbers of residences going into contract! Currently 370 residences are in contract. Here are the numbers of how many residences have been going into contract each month this year . . .
- 190 Residences went into contract in May of 2020 (compared to 110 in May 2019)
- 318 Residences went into contract in June of 2020 (compared to 125 in June 2019)
- 298 Residences went into contract in July (compared to 150 in July 2019)
- 315 Residences went into contract in August (compared to 170 in August 2019)
- 281 Residences went into contract in September (compared to 170 in all of September 2019)
Current inventory represents about 1 month of supply, relative to the last 4 months of activity.
Coldwell Banker Ranks #1: Among all brokerages in North Lake Tahoe and Truckee, Coldwell Banker continues to rank #1 in total number of sales. For the previous 12 months, Coldwell Banker represented 14.04% of sales. This represents 42% more transactions than our next closest competitor (9.91% of sales).
Median and Average Sales Prices: These numbers are changing dramatically. For the period January through June, the median sales price was $674,500 (up slightly from $669,000 last year) and the average sales price was $986,430 (up slightly from $975,296 last year). In the 3rd quarter, we jumped to a median of $823,000 (up 22% compared to the first half of the year) and an average of $1,221,841 (up 24%).
Sales Under $500,000: For the period January through September, residences priced under $500,000 represented just over 19% of sales or 273 properties sold. For the same period in 2019, 27% of sales were in this range.
Mid-Range Market Sales $500,000 to $999,999: For the same period, there were 698 sales between $500,000 and $999,999, representing 50% of total sales. For the same period in 2019, 49% of sales were in this price range.
Luxury Home Sales Over $1 Million: 435 properties have sold over $1 million, representing 31% of total sales. This is up 84% from the 236 sales in the same period in 2019 (which made up 24% of total sales).
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