West Lake Tahoe, Homes for Sale, Real Estate Market Report, June 2012

West Lake Tahoe, California is known for its easy access, forest setting, and casual, outdoor lifestyle. This area is approximately 15 miles of Lake Tahoe shoreline and starts with Tahoe City, California where Highway 28 meets Highway 89 South ending in the Rubicon Bay area right before the D.L. Bliss State Park / Emerald Bay area.

West Shore Lake Tahoe Homes for Sale:

West Lake Tahoe is also known as the West Shore of Lake Tahoe and homes in this area are easily accessed by Highway 89 South.

West Lake Tahoe is made up of several communities they are either located in unincorporated Placer County, or unincorporated El Dorado County, California. West Lake Tahoe is close to the popular ski resorts – Homewood, Alpine Meadows, and Squaw Valley. This area is also close to biking, hiking, golf courses, restaurants, shopping, and all of the water sports that Lake Tahoe is known for.

You’ll find tiny, old Tahoe cabins that are nearly 100 years old, along with multi-million dollar luxury, lakefront estates that define the ultimate in mountain luxury living. In the Meeks Bay – Rubicon Bay area, the beaches are known for being white and sandy and Lake Tahoe showing off its beautiful colors of blue and green. If you’re a bike rider, the West Shore offers some of the best bike paths that follow the edge of Lake Tahoe.

West Lake Tahoe also offers some of the most exclusive, gated condominium developments in area.

Each year visitors come to West Lake Tahoe to experience the beauty and outdoor lifestyle the area has to offer. West Lake Tahoe has a number of popular public beaches and parks that are maintained by the Tahoe City Public Utility Department.

Well known neighborhoods and communities in West Lake Tahoe include:
Tahoe City
Comstock
Tahoe Sierra Estates
Tahoe Woods
Lake Tahoe Park
Talmont
Alpine Peaks
Pineland
Timberland
Ward Creek
Skyland
Tahoe Pines
Tahoe Swiss Village
Homewood
McKinney Shores
Chamberlands
Tahoma
Glenridge
Meeks Bay
Rubicon Bay

Sold Single Family Homes in West Lake Tahoe, California:

In West Lake Tahoe, California, lakefronts, mountain homes, and cabin prices averaged $360,250. We would expect the average median sales prices for the rest of the year to move higher as new home listings replaces older listings that have sold. Since the market peak in 2006, the average median home sales price on West Lake Tahoe has dropped -56%.

There were 52 single family homes sold for the first 5 months in 2012. Of those sales, 2 were lakefronts ranging in sold price from $3,435,000 to $11 million. West Lake Tahoe luxury lakefront sales were 4% of the market. Homes sold up to $499,999 represented 67% of the market.

Cash sale transactions for North Lake Tahoe area dropped slightly to 29%, which is below the Lake Tahoe – Truckee, California regional trend of 34%.

The current absorption rate for North Lake Tahoe, as of 06/01/2012 is at 7.67 months. Anything above 7 months of inventory is considered a Buyers’ market, 5-7 months is a balanced market, and below 5 months is a sellers’ market. If the inventory levels continue to drop, the West Lake Tahoe market will become a balanced market.

There were only 9 distressed sales (bank foreclosures- real estate owned (REO’s) and short sales), or 10% of the market was a distressed sale for the first five months of 2012. As of 06/01/2012 only 10% of the active homes available for sale were currently distressed sellers, which is a significant improvement, and may be signaling a fundamental change in market conditions.

There were 92 Active – available homes, cabins, and lakefronts for sale on West Lake Tahoe as of 06/01/2012. Houses, cabins, and lakefront properties ranged in price from $139,900 to $20 million. Of the 92 homes offered for sale there were 2 REO listings, 5 Short Sale listings, 1 Notice of Default, and 1 Court Approval listing, which only represents 10% of the market as a distressed sellers, which is a 15% improvement over the 2011 distress seller rate of 25%. There were 18 pending sales on West Lake Tahoe ranging in listed price from $159,090 to $1,295,000 as of 06/01/2012.

Given the tight, West Lake Tahoe housing inventory situation, and the reduction in distressed sellers, the next step for the West Shore market will be price stabilization.

West Shore, Lake Tahoe, CA, Homes for Sale Real Estate Summary:

Year	Homes Sold	Median Average Sales Price	Lowest Price Sold	Highest Price Sold	% Cash Transactions	Absorption Rate < 5 months Sellers Mkt 5-7 months balanced Mkt >7 months Buyer’s Mkt	% Distressed Sales	Breakdown of Distressed Sales
2012*	52	$360,250	$79,000	$11,000,000	29%	7.67 Months Buyers’ Market	10%	1 Court Approval 2 REO’s 5 Short Sales 1 Notice of Default
2011	117	$476,000	$165,000	$6,400,000	35%	NA	25%	1 Court Approval 15 REO’s 13 Short Sales
2010	98	$454,500	$161,000	$12,400,000	34%	NA	27%	19 REO’s 7 Short Sale
2009	92	$582,500	$276,000	$6,288,000	34%	NA	20%	9 REO’s 8 Short Sales 1 Court Approval
2008	67	$689,000	$309,000	$20,000,000	24%	NA	0%	0 REO’s 0 Short Sales
2007	86	$804,500	$261,500	$12,400,000	24%	NA	0%	0 REO’s 0 Short Sales
2006	113	$812,000	$310,000	$16,700,000	12%	NA	0%	0 REO’s 0 Short Sales

*YTD period is 01/01/2012 – 05/31/2012. Absorption rate as of 06/01/2012. Data Source: Tahoe Sierra Multiple Listing Service (TSMLS) TSMLS Areas 4-5 and is subject to change and/or correction without notice.

Use caution when only a handful of sales are available in a neighborhood. The percent changes can be significant and numbers are easily moved in either direction.

Ready to make the West Shore of Lake Tahoe, California your second home? Check out what is for sale on the West Shore here:

For all of your Tahoe real estate needs –

Laura A. Allen | 530.414.1260 | Laura@TahoeLaura.com
BROKER ASSOCIATE, Tahoe Real Estate Agent
CalRE# 01473598
Coldwell Banker, Tahoe City, CA CalRE#01908304

All information is deemed reliable, but is subject to change, and/or correction without notice.

West Lake Tahoe, Homes for Sale, Real Estate Market Report, June 2012