Uncategorized • April 14, 2020

2020

by Jim Wire

I believe that we are going into week 4 of the “Shelter in Place” order. As I had mentioned previously, California and Nevada had categorized the real estate industry as essential. The activity level has been low but it’s alive!

Here are the numbers from the past week beginning on April 6^th, 2020. This data is extrapolated from the South Tahoe Association of Realtors MLS and the Northern Nevada Regional MLS.

South Lake Tahoe

9 New Listings

5 New Pending Sales

1 Withdrawn from Market

9 Closings

East Shore Lake Tahoe

1 New Listing

3 New Pending Sales

1 Withdrawn from Market

6 Closings

I took a closer look at the closings for the South Lake Tahoe market. Here is the break down for Sold Price vs List Price.

5 Sales – 31-60 Days on Market – Sold for 98.48% List Price

1 Sale – 61-90 Days on Market – Sold 99.88% List Price

3 Sales – 120+ Days on Market – Sold 93.51% List Price

It appears that the longer a home/condo sits on the market the selling price lowers. Click below to see a graph for the Months Supply. The Months Supply is calculated by dividing the number of homes/condos for sale by the rate they are selling. If it is below 2 months, it is considered a seller’s market by definition. Although the number of listings this month for homes and condos is currently 157. Last month it was 216. This is abnormal. Typically, April inventory should be increasing from the previous month. Of course, nothing is normal as COVID-19 has become the great disruptor.

http://southtahoe.stats.10kresearch.com/infoserv/s-v1/Ss9v-yz3

Uncategorized • April 10, 2020

Lake Tahoe Buyer or Seller Real Estate Market?

by Jim Wire

During this period of a pandemic, there is a lot of anxiety and for good reason. People are getting sick and dying at a rapid rate. We are all vulnerable. In addition, the economy is taking a big hit. In relation to the real estate market locally and nationally, real estate activity has been evaporating. For whatever reason, Buyers are on hold and Sellers are postponing their marketing plans. There is too much uncertainty regarding the virus control and the economic recovery. How will this impact the real estate market going forward?

There are two graphs below. The data comes from the South Lake Tahoe Association of Realtors MLS. One graph shows the number of pending sales. It’s an interactive graph. So if you run your mouse on the graph line, it will show the number of sales each month. If you go to the end of the graph, you will see that the number of pending sales drop from 39 in February to 28 in March. Most of the March sales occurred before the “Shelter in Place” was activated in California. Otherwise it was on trajectory to surpass February sales.

The next graph shows the “Months Supply”. If you run your mouse along the line, you will see the months supply for each month. The month supply is calculated by dividing the number of active homes for sale by the rate at which they are selling. For the month of March it shows 2.7 months supply. This means that given the rate at which homes are selling, all of the available homes will be sold within 2.7 months. The widely accepted definition of a “Seller’s Market” is a month’s supply that is below 2 months. By definition, March may be considered more of a seller’s market.

Although we know that this doesn’t tell the whole story. Due to the lack of market activity, it’s hard to determine the path that it is on. Between the virus and the economy, there are just too many unknown variables. In my opinion, I believe that the economy will rebound but that is dependant upon the control of the virus. How will that affect the supply and demand in the months to come? All we can do is speculate.

I would be interested in hearing about your thoughts! How do you feel about the real estate market and where do you think it will go?

Uncategorized • April 8, 2020

Tahoe Home Sale & COVID-19 Update for April 6, 2020

by Jim Wire

I’m giving you another weekly update which means that I have way too much time on my hands. I found this on Facebook. It may give you a little chuckle!

Posted by Will Hand on Saturday, March 21, 2020

I have something positive to report which will be good news for the sellers. Two of the 5 Pending sales this past week were on the market for less than 10 days. One home had an asking price of $495,000 and the other was asking $759,000. The statistics below come from the South Tahoe Association of Realtors MLS and the Northern Nevada Regional MLS and it’s for the week beginning on March 30^th, 2020 to April 6, 2020.

South Lake Tahoe

9 New Listings

5 New Pending Sales

1 Withdrawn

9 Closings

Stateline Nevada

1 New Listing

3 New Pending Sales

1 Withdrawn

6 Closings

Technology is proving to be useful assisting with showings in today’s market. Real Estate agents are learning to use tools such as videos and face time which have become alternatives to a physical viewing. The California Association of Realtors (CAR) has produced guidelines for safe practices during COVID-19 threat. Virtual viewings for buyers are a large part of it. As a result, offers made sight unseen are now becoming more acceptable to buyers and sellers.

I’m sure that most of you may have questions. Please send me a reply or give me a call, 530-314-9008. I look forward to assisting you with all of your real estate needs!

Be Safe and Be Well!

Jim Wire

Uncategorized • March 31, 2020

Tahoe Home Sales & COVID-19 Weekly Update 3/30/20

by Jim Wire

Last week on Friday I had just received a message from our local board of Realtors;

“Real Estate Now Listed as an Essential Service in March 28, 2020 Federal List of Essential Critical Infrastructure WorkersToday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) updated its list of essential services during the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis and expressly included residential real estate. Since Governor Newsom’s March 4, 2020 order incorporates this list, the order now includes residential and commercial real estate, including settlement services, as essential services in California. “

However, local governments may have a more restrictive standard. A week ago, Nevada had already classified real estate activities as essential. The CDC is recommending that there be no “Open House” and to do virtual home tours as much as possible.

Escrow/Title companies are an essential service as they are part of the financial markets. Even though new purchases are way down, lenders are inundated with the refinance loans.

As you may be aware the spread has spiked, and it has not peaked yet. “Shelter in Place” orders will remain in effect until possibly the end of April. All of the communities around Lake Tahoe have restricted VHR (Vacation Home Rental) usage. VHRs may rent to people conducting essential services in the area such as traveling nurses and doctors.

With the travel restrictions, real estate activity in Tahoe has dropped dramatically with a spike going in the opposite direction. Last week I gave you some statistics to show the market activity level. Here are more statistics for the week of March 23^rd 2020

South Lake Tahoe Market

10 New Listings

2 New Pending Sales

24 Listings Withdrawn

7 Closings

Lake Tahoe Nevada East Shore

0 New Listings

1 New Pending Sale

4 Listings Withdrawn

1 Closing

The drop in sales activity is not a surprise as the travel restrictions continue and we shelter in place. Some homes were withdrawn from the market for various reasons. Either sellers don’t see the point in continued marketing, or they don’t wish to contaminate their home. Although there are homes coming onto the market. Virtual home tours, Face Time and other

Uncategorized • March 24, 2020

COVID-19 & Tahoe Home Sales!

by Jim Wire

It occurred to me that Buyers and Sellers at Lake Tahoe may be wondering about the effect that COVID-19 has had on the local home sale market. It goes without saying that since most non-essential businesses have been shutting down, it may slow home sale activity. Real estate agents and sellers have been evaluating the risk level regarding open houses and viewings. With most businesses either operational on a limited basis or not at all, out-of-town buyers may be evaluating their travel plans to Tahoe. We are all wondering about the effects this will have for people’s’ decisions to buy or sell.

Without question, we are a “wait and see situation”. There are seven counties in the bay area that are now under a “shelter in place” order. Since most of the Tahoe buyers are from the bay area, the impact could be substantial.

Let’s look at the most recent number of pending sales. According to the information in our local STAR MLS (South Tahoe Assoc. of Realtors Multiple Listing Service) there were approximately 20 new pending sales in February and 32 new pending sales in March. March 16^th was the first day of most local governments announced self-containment. Since then there were 6 new pending sales.

March has already proven to be the strongest month for real estate sales this year. This could be attributed to the lower interest rates which were responding to the diving stock market. Sometimes the real estate market benefits from this as investors look for safer places to park their money. Traditionally, the real estate market sees an increase in activity as the spring blooms and the summer peak season draws near.

For any of the above reasons, the March real estate market activity is on the rise but is it sustainable? What remains to be seen is the impact from “shelter in place” and the spread of COVID-19. Like most of the economy, our local real estate market will not be immune from impacts created by the growing spread of a devastating disease.

I know that some of you are wondering if this is a good time to buy or to sell. With on the ground information, you may be able to make a better decision.

During this time of crisis, I will do my best to give my clients a weekly update regarding the impact to our local real estate market. In the meantime, you are welcome to contact me directly, cell 530-314-9008. I look forward to hearing from you!