Tahoe Truckee real estate opened the decade with a strong performance through January. 94 residential transactions exactly equals the average of the last three years’ opening month while an average price just over $1,000,000 has set the tone for another productive year to come.
Q1 is often the softest period for closings in our region. A strong January, typically reflective of early season buying activity, is less dependent upon snow conditions than the remainder of the winter. As winter delivers an abundance of snow (or lack thereof), real estate activity fluctuates on non-economic variables particularly road conditions for weekend travel. Current conditions have been optimal for winter travel with storms coming in smaller bursts that have generally fallen midweek. This coupled with economic conditions on equally solid footing, the regional market appears poised for another stellar run.
January 2020 was led by a series of premium sales on Tahoe’s West Shore. Lakefront activity this time of year is somewhat counter-intuitive yet has become the norm. In 2019, a much-publicized lakefront estate gave the region a $37,000,000 year-opening boost while 2018 saw a $7.5 million transaction near Homewood. The most recent 30-day period delivered lakefront sales of $7,619,000 and $7,150,000 complimented transactions in Martis Camp ($4,975,000, $2,200,000), Lahontan ($2,850,000, $2,300,000) as well as transactions near $2 million in Northstar, Northstar Mountainside and Squaw Valley.
Projecting forward, 142 properties are currently pending sale; a stable and healthy number for this time of year. Trends evident throughout 2019 remain present particularly the bias toward new homes in amenitized communities featuring contemporary design. Five homes and two homesites are currently pending sale in Martis Camp plus another five homes in Lahontan. Perhaps driven by the weather factors detailed above, 13 properties are currently pending sale in Northstar ranging from vintage condo product for $425,000 to new construction in Mountainside’s Boulders neighborhood for $2,395,000.
Inventory remains low at a modest 3.4 months’ supply. While this figure is statistically biased toward sellers, it does not take into account the heavily back loaded flow to annual sales in the Tahoe Truckee region.
As such, it reflects slightly less than average supply. From this early view, there does not appear to be the stasis typical of an election year with demand continuing to grow for quality of life purchases. We will closely monitor this as the campaigns ramp up during our busiest summer months.
