Tahoe City Home Values | Market Report – Year End 2019

Here is the year-end 2019 single-family home market data for the Tahoe City area. 

The Tahoe City real estate market conditions remained strong, and favor Sellers will low inventory levels.  

Reduced levels of available homes for sale in Tahoe City remained critically low throughout the year.

The selection of homes for Buyers was very limited, regardless of the price point.  On January 1, 2020, there were only 21 homes for sale.

Here are the current listings as of the day you are reading this post:

Tahoe City homes for sale, all price points:

• Tahoe City Homes for Sale under $300,000
• Tahoe City Homes for Sale under $400,000
• Tahoe City Homes for Sale under $500,000
• Tahoe City Homes for Sale under $600,000
• Tahoe City Homes for Sale under $700,000
• Tahoe City Homes for Sale under $800,000
• Tahoe City Homes for Sale under $900,000
• Tahoe City Homes for Sale under $1 million
• Tahoe City Luxury Homes for Sale
• Tahoe City Waterfront Homes for Sale

Single-family home prices dropped from a median average sales price of $825,000 in 2018, to a median average sales price of $790,000 in 2019.

The drop in sales price is most likely due to the reduced number of record-breaking lakefront sales on sales in Tahoe City in 2018 on both the West Shore of Tahoe City, ($40 million) and the North Shore of Tahoe City ($22 million), so the price drop was most likely not because of marketing conditions, but the combination of sales from the previous year.  This was also noted as a reason why prices were significantly higher in 2018 versus the regional average.

You can see on the graph below that the over-all Tahoe City home price trend for the average median home sold sales price has moved up and while 2019 is below 2018 levels, it is above 2017 prices.  

The Tahoe City single-family home median average sales price of $790,000 (TSMLS Areas 3-4). A common question I am often asked by Buyers and Sellers is:

• “What percentage of the listed price are Sellers getting on their Tahoe property?”

In 2019, Sellers realized 95.2% of their listed asking price to the sold average median sales price in the greater Tahoe City area (MLS Areas 3-4).  

This is lower than the over-all region, which was at 99.5%.  In everyday terms, this means Sellers need to correctly price their properties in order to get close to their asking prices. 

It also means Tahoe Buyers that wanted to low-ball or be really aggressive on their offered price had a better opportunity to do that in the greater Tahoe City area this past year.

Real Estate Market Homes Sold Activity for the Tahoe City Area: Year-End 2019 YTD Period:  01-01-2019 to 12-31-2019 | MLS Areas 3-4

• Number of Homes Sold in Tahoe City: 87
• Median Average Sold Sales Price for Tahoe City: $790,000
• Average Sold Sales Price in Tahoe City: $1,404,314
• Sold Price Range in Tahoe City:  $441,000 – $37 Million
• Percent (%) List to Sold Price Ratio:  95.2%
• Average Days on Market (DOM in MLS):  69 DOM
• Number of Active and Available Homes for Sale in Tahoe City as of 01-01-2020:  21 (TSMLS Areas 3-4)
• Pending Home Sales in Tahoe City as of 01-01-2020: 6
• Number of Distressed Available Listing – As of 01-01-2020:  Zero  (0) listings:  Zero (0) Court Approval, Zero (0) Short Sale, Zero (0) REO|Bank Foreclosures (MLS Areas 3-4)

Other interesting Tahoe City single-family home market observations:

Days on Market (DOM) remained almost unchanged from 2017 to 2019.  For 2019 is the number of days on the market for single-family homes is now at 69 days, which is up 3 days from 2017 but is still down 23% from the 90 DOM in 2016. As a general rule, the shorter the marketing time for a home to go sale pending, the stronger the market is for Sellers. 

Inventory – Current inventory levels are critically low.  Again, another sign of the market favoring Sellers. High

Number of Lakefront Home Sales – The high number of lakefront sales in 2018 may have distorted the over-all decrease for our non-lakefront home values given for 2019. 

When Tahoe City home sales are compared to the entire region of $745,000, the Tahoe City area did well at $790,000.

As a result, I recommend looking at the entire North Lake Tahoe – Truckee Region for regional market trends.

North Lake Tahoe – Truckee Home Values | Market Report – Year End 2019

If you already own a home in the Tahoe area and want to know what is your property is now worth? Call me Laura Allen,  530.414.1260, for a confidential consultation.

Tahoe Home Buyers should do the following:

• See new listings as soon as possible.  Tahoe second home Buyers should try to drive up the next day to see the property and not wait until the weekend.
• Ready, set, go!  Be prepared to make a buying decision immediately.
• Work with an experienced local Tahoe Real Estate Agent.  They understand the market conditions, and many Buyer Agents know how the other side negotiation tactics.  
• If you will need a loan, make sure your lender has approved you.  You will need to move quickly and not having your loan lined up will put you at a disadvantage. 
• If you are buying a condo or townhome in the area, make sure you are using a local lender.   Using a local lender that has recently processed a loan in the complex you want to buy in will do two things for you.  One, you will have the confidence that the lender has already reviewed their HOA docs and previously approved the development, increasing your odds of the same outcome.  Second, Sellers that know you have selected a lender with this experience will give you extra credit for knowing your lender is ready to go on their property.

The next update will be in Mid-May 2020, which will pick up the first four months of 2020.

If you want more long-term real estate data, check out the following table that has a lot of data going back over ten years.

I’ve included both the average median sales price and average sales price (in some cases there is a significant difference between the two, but the trends are the same direction for both) are included for each year in the following table. 

Tahoe City Sold Single Family Homes MLS Areas 3-4 | 01/01/2019 – 12/31/2019 (This table is best viewed on a laptop, desktop, or a device with a larger screen.)

Year	Homes Sold	Median Average Sales Price	Average Sales Price	DOM Days On Market	Lowest Price Sold	Highest Price Sold	% Cash Transactions	%  Distressed Sales	Breakdown of distressed Sales
2019*	97	$790,000	$1,404,314	69	$441,000	$37,000,000 3 Lakefronts	24%	1.1%	0 REO’s 0 Short Sales 1 Court Approval Sale
2018	113	$825,000	$2,330,726	67	$435,000	$40,000,000 11 Lakefronts	30%	0%	0 REO’s 0 Short Sales
2017	90	$722,500	$878,560	66	$299,900	$7,000,000 1 Lakefronts	26%	3.3%	3 REO’s 0 Short Sales
2016	120	$705,000	$1,209,682	90	$330,000	$17,500,000 7 Lakefronts	37%	2.5%	2 REO’s 1 Short Sales
2015	105	$650,000	$989,403	90	$315,000	$8,199,000 4 Lakefronts	34%	1%	1 REO’s 0 Short Sales
2014	84	$670,000	$1,064,987	76	$290,000	$6,500,000 4 Lakefronts	44%	5%	2 REO’s 3 Short Sales
2013	85	$592,500	$831,934	99	$214,000	$6,750,000 3 Lakefronts	37%	38%	1 REO’s 3 Short Sales
2012	109	$568,000	$1,100,159	119	$179,000	$17,250,000 9 Lakefronts	39%	23%	11 REO’s 13 Short Sales 1 Court Approval Sale
2011	64	$555,000	$932,290	134	$257,000	$6,450,000  5 Lakefronts	34%	25%	7 REO’s 9 Short Sales
2010	70	$653,000	$1,121,282	123	$219,900	$7,100,000 7 Lakefronts	39%	19%	7 REO’s 6 Short Sale
2009	65	$635,000	$936,142	146	$340,000	$6,288,000 4 Lakefronts	26%	17%	5 REO’s 6 Short Sale
2008	50	$741,500	$1,501,905	137	$350,000	$20,000,000 5 Lakefronts	26%	0%	0 REO’s 0 Short Sale
2007	56	$883,500	$1,495,640	136	$525,000	$12,400,000 4 Lakefronts	21%	0%	0 REO’s 0 Short Sale
2006	89	$926,000	$1,429,484	100	$425,000	$16,700,000 6 Lakefronts	18%	0%	0 REO’s 0 Short Sale

REO’s = Real Estate Owned, which is the name banks use for their bank foreclosed properties.

Short Sales = Owner does not have the money to pay off all of the debt and asks the debt holders to take less back in order to close the sale.

*YTD period is 01/01/2019 – 12/31/2019.

Data Source: Tahoe Sierra Multiple Listing Service (TSMLS).  Year-to-date summaries are based on information from the Tahoe Sierra Board of Realtors (TSMLS).

Due to TSMLS reporting methods and allowable reporting policy, this data is only informational and may not be completely accurate. Therefore, Laura Allen, or Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage does not guarantee the data’s accuracy. Data maintained by the TSMLS’s may not reflect all real estate activity in the market. All information is deemed to be reliable, but is subject to change, modification, and/or correction without prior notice.

If your property is currently listed for sale, or you have an active Buyer Representation Agreement, this is not intended as a solicitation.

Looking to buy?  Want more options?  Search Homes for Sale in North Lake Tahoe and the Truckee area (below) by price range here:

• North Lake Tahoe Homes for Sale under $300,000
• North Lake Tahoe Homes for Sale under $400,000 
• North Lake Tahoe Homes for Sale under $500,000 
• North Lake Tahoe Homes for Sale under $600,000 
• North Lake Tahoe Homes for Sale under $700,000 
• North Lake Tahoe Homes for Sale under $800,000 
• North Lake Tahoe Homes for Sale under $900,000 
• North Lake Tahoe Homes for Sale under $1 million  
• North Lake Tahoe Luxury Homes for Sale