Tahoe Donner Homes - Single Family Home Sales – March 2011

The following Figure shows Tahoe Donner Single Family Home activity from Jan 2008 through March 2011.

The data is obtained from the Tahoe MLS published data. Note, this data is for single family homes only – contact me for data on Tahoe Donner Condos or data for other Truckee areas. 

Tahoe Donner is a great area to study for market activity since it is has over 5000 homes and therefore presents a large database for meaningful statistical analysis. Home prices vary from roughly $300K to over $1.5M and ages range from over 30 years old to brand new.

When trying to interpret  change in prices over the last few years several factors should be considered instead of just dividing the monthly total homes sales gross $ total by the number of units sold and saying prices are down by x % - doing so is not giving buyers and sellers a true picture of the market. A couple of major considerations are that higher priced new home construction is obviously way down in the Truckee area (except for Martis Camp) and until 2010, lenders had been making it very difficult to obtain Jumbo loans required for higher priced homes – requiring cash only purchases in the past year or so which could have adversely affected the number of larger homes sold. Another very significant factor is the increasing amount of distressed home sales (Short Sales and REO’s). REO’s especially tend to be sold in generally poor condition which significantly lowers the market value.

 Tahoe Donner Single Family Home Closings

Tahoe Donner Homes - Closings

Single Family home closings in March ’11 were 20 homes (another source says 21), up from 13 last month. Note that sales in Tahoe Donner are extremely seasonal and year to year comparisons are significant to get a valid picture of typical sales activity. Looking at the above graph March sales this year are up significantly from the last two years – great news!

Tahoe Donner Homes – Inventory  

The number of Single Family listings was 80 listings at the end of Mar.  When you consider we have approximately 5000 single family homes in Tahoe Donner inventory continues to be low - 1.6% of the homes in TD. This low inventory is obviously a positive sign for the continued good health of the Tahoe Donner Market and could lead to higher home pricing.

Tahoe Donner Homes – Days on Market (DOM)

Average Days on market (DOM) were 108 days, up from 105 last month and down from175 days the month before. Looking at the above graph, 108 days is close to the average which is 80-100 days or so. As mentioned last month, I think the slightly higher DOM is due to low inventory resulting in sales of homes that have been on the market for an extended period.

Tahoe Donner - New Home Sales & Lot Sales

Regarding new home sales, there were 3 new home sales last month.  We have seen a slowdown in buildable lot sales but expect this to pick up as we approach spring. The low inventory of saleable homes is obviously a good sign for builders and may spark lot sales in the spring and summer of this year.

 Tahoe Donner Homes - Average and Median Prices

Average and median prices increased a bit this month to $551 and $517K.

Since we are getting some recent new home activity and financing has loosened up a bit and with the low inventory,  one can expect that non-distressed home prices should not see much additional downward pressure in 2011. This is another good sign of a strong market because prices tend to be holding in even without a significant number of more expensive new homes coming on the market. For sellers, the low inventory is great and for buyers don’t be too hopeful that prices will drop if you wait. With this low inventory it’s a good bet that prices will stabilize and possibly increase like they did last month.

Sold to Ask Price

The sold to last listing price for Jan was 95%. February sold to last listed price was 96%. March was also 96%.

So, when you are buying or selling keep this average number in mind.

Price per Sq Ft

The average price per square foot for January was $259. February average price per sq ft was $243. March came in at $251 $/sq ft.

March was interesting in that 3 brand new homes sold  for $278, $270 and $327 per sq ft and  3 REO’s sold for $111, $167 and $242 per sq ft. There was also 1 Court Approved sale for $343 per sq ft.

The net-net is that the average price per sq ft didn’t change that much from Jan. to March.

I hope this data, presented in this form was useful to you. MLS data is available and I encourage the buyer or seller to study the data and arrive at their own conclusions before making a buy or sell decision. Contact me if you would like to see the “raw” data.

Tahoe Donner Homes - Single Family Home Sales – February 2011

The following Figure shows Tahoe Donner Single Family Home activity from Jan 2008 through February 2011.

The data is obtained from the Tahoe MLS published data. Note, this data is for single family homes only – contact me for data on Tahoe Donner Condos or data for other Truckee areas.

Tahoe Donner is a great area to study for market activity since it is has over 5000 homes and therefore presents a large database for meaningful statistical analysis. Home prices vary from roughly $300K to over $1.5M and ages range from over 30 years old to brand new.

When trying to interpret  change in prices over the last few years several factors should be considered instead of just dividing the monthly total homes sales gross $ total by the number of units sold and saying prices are down by x % - doing so is not giving buyers and sellers a true picture of the market. A couple of major considerations are that higher priced new home construction is obviously way down in the Truckee area (except for Martis Camp) and until 2010, lenders had been making it very difficult to obtain Jumbo loans required for higher priced homes – requiring cash only purchases in the past year or so which could have adversely affected the number of larger homes sold. Another very significant factor is the increasing amount of distressed home sales (Short Sales and REO’s). REO’s especially tend to be sold in generally poor condition which significantly lowers the market value.

Tahoe Donner Single Family Home Sales

Tahoe Donner Homes - Closings


Single Family home closings in February ’11 were 13 homes, up from 9 last month. Note that sales in Tahoe Donner are extremely seasonal and year to year comparisons are significant to get a valid picture of sales activity. Looking at the above graph Feb sales this year are consistent with the last few years.

Tahoe Donner Homes – Inventory


(# of Single Family listings) was 90 listings at the end of Feb.  When you consider we have approximately 5000 single family homes in Tahoe Donner inventory continues to be low -  1.8% of the homes in TD. This low inventory is obviously a positive sign for the continued good health of the Tahoe Donner Market and could lead to higher home pricing.

Tahoe Donner Homes – Days on Market (DOM)


Average Days on market (DOM) decreased to 105 days from 175 last month and 78 the month before. Looking at the above graph, 105 days is getting closer to the average which is close to 80 days or so. As mentioned last month, I think the higher DOM is due to low inventory resulting in sales of homes that have been on the market for an extended period.

Tahoe Donner - New Home Sales & Lot Sales


Regarding new home sales, there were 2 new home sales last month.  We have seen a slowdown in buildable lot sales and don’t expect this to pick up until spring. The low inventory of saleable homes is obviously a good sign for builders and may spark lot sales in the spring and summer of this year.

Tahoe Donner Single Family Home Median and Average Home Price

Tahoe Donner Distressed Sales

There were 3 REO’s sold  last month as well as 1 Court approved sale. So we are seeing 4/13 distressed sales or 31%.

Tahoe Donner Homes - Average and Median Prices

Average and median prices decreased a bit this month. This is a result of the relatively high percentage of distressed sales.


Since we are getting some recent new home activity and financing has loosened up a bit and with the low inventory,  one can expect that non-distressed home prices should not see much additional downward pressure in 2011. This is another good sign of a strong market because prices tend to be holding in even without a significant number of more expensive new homes coming on the market. For sellers, the low inventory is great and for buyers don’t be too hopeful that prices will drop if you wait.

Sold to Ask Price


The sold to last listing price for Jan was 95%. February sold to last listed price was 96%. So, when you are buying or selling keep this average number in mind.

Price per Sq Ft


The average price per square foot for January was $259. February average price per sq ft was $243.

February was interesting in that 2 brand new homes sold  $310 and $327 per sq ft and  3 REO’s sold for $111, $167 and $242 per sq ft. There was also 1 Court Approved sale for $173 per sq ft.

The net-net is that the average price per sq ft didn’t change that much from Jan. due to the new home sales.

I hope this data, presented in this form was useful to you. MLS data is available and I encourage the buyer or seller to study the data and arrive at their own conclusions before making a buy or sell decision. Contact me if you would like to see the “raw” data.

Gary LaBelle

Chase International, Truckee, CA

Tahoe Donner Homes - Single Family Home Sales – January 2011

The following Figure shows Tahoe Donner Single Family Home activity from Jan 2008 through January 2011.

The data is obtained from the Tahoe MLS published data. Note, this data is for single family homes only – contact me for data on Tahoe Donner Condos or data for other Truckee areas.

Tahoe Donner is a great area to study for market activity since it is has over 5000 homes and therefore presents a large database for statistical analysis. Home prices vary from roughly $300K to over $1.5M and ages range from over 30 years old to brand new. When considering a change in prices several factors should be considered instead of just dividing the total homes sales gross $ total by the number of units sold and saying prices are down by x % for example. Doing so is not giving buyers and sellers a true picture of the market. A couple of major considerations are that higher priced new home construction is obviously way down in the Truckee area (except for Martis Camp) and lenders have been making it very difficult to obtain Jumbo loans required for higher priced homes. The market is a bit funny at this time - standard sales look strong but Short sales and REO's will continue to put pressure on the sales prices.

Tahoe Donner Single Family Home Sales

Tahoe Donner Homes - Closings

Single Family home closings in January ’11 were 9 homes, down from 26 the last couple months. This is significant since sales in Tahoe Donner are extremely seasonal and year to year comparisons are significant to get a valid picture of sales activity.

Tahoe Donner Homes – Inventory

(# of Single Family listings) was 75 listings at the end of Jan.  When you consider we have approximately 5000 single family homes in Tahoe Donner inventory continues to be low -  1.5% of the homes in TD. This low inventory is obviously a positive sign for the continued good health of the Tahoe Donner Market.

Tahoe Donner Homes – Days on Market (DOM)

Average Days on market (DOM) dramatically increased to 175 days from 78 last month and 98 the month before. Which looking at the above graph is considerably higher than the last several months and at a level that has been matched only a few other times in the last several years. I would attribute this to the lower inventory and the resulting success of sales of homes that have been on the market for some time.

Tahoe Donner - New Home Sales & Lot Sales

Regarding new home sales, there are still 7 on the market and not more expected before next summer. We have seen a slowdown in buildable lot sales and don’t expect this to pick up until spring when contractors,  who have the courage to build a new home, are out looking for lots. The low inventory of saleable homes is obviously a good sign for builders and may spark lot sales this year.

Tahoe Donner Single Family Home Median and Average Home Price

Tahoe Donner Homes - Average and Median Prices

Average and median prices increased a bit this month. Nov was abnormal with the sale of a $1.33M home on Skislope Way and a $1.79M home on Glacier Way.

As mentioned in the introduction, one factor that has affected this price curve is a reduction of new high end new home construction activity in Tahoe Donner in 2009 and 2010. Another factor has been associated with the difficulty of obtaining Jumbo Loans. This has tended to keep single family (SF) home pricing a bit lower until. Since we are getting some recent new home activity and financing has loosened up a bit and with the low inventory,  one can expect that prices should not see much downward pressure, if any, in 2011. This is another good sign of a strong market because prices tend to be holding in even without a significant number of more expensive new homes coming on the market. For sellers, the low inventory is great and for buyers don’t be too hopeful that prices will drop if you wait.

Sold to Ask Price

The sold to last listing price for Jan was 95%.

Price per Sq Ft

The average price per square foot for January was $259

I hope this data, presented in this form was useful to you. For an instant update, or a discussion about condos/townhomes, please call me and I’ll be pleased to provide you with the most recent data available. MLS data is available and I encourage the buyer or seller to study the data and arrive at their own conclusions before making a buy or sell decision. Contact me if you would like to see the “raw” data. I also have sold price vs. listed price data and prices per sq. ft. - this is very helpful if you are considering selling or buying a home – call me for a copy of this data.

Tahoe Donner Homes - Dec 2010 Sales

January 24, 2011

Tahoe Donner Homes - Single Family Home Sales - December 2010

 The following Figure shows Tahoe Donner Single Family Home activity from Jan 2008 through December 2010.

The data is obtained from the Tahoe MLS published data. Note, these graphs are for single family homes only - contact me for data on Tahoe Donner Condos or data for other Truckee areas.

December was another good month for sales. Inventory is low, sales are strong and prices are holding in as they have for the last couple years. Tahoe Donner is a great place to buy and enjoy the Truckee life!

Tahoe Donner Single Family Home Sales

Single Family home sales in December '10 were 26 homes. This is significant since sales in Tahoe Donner are extremely seasonal and year to year comparisons are significant to get a valid picture of sales activity. Inventory (# of Single Family listings) was 92 listings at the end of Dec.  When you consider we have approximately 5000 single family homes in Tahoe Donner inventory continues to be low -  1.8% of the homes in TD. This low inventory is obviously a positive sign for the continued good health of the Tahoe Donner Market.

Average Days on market (DOM) decreased to 78 days from 98 days - which looking at the above graph is still lower than last year and toward the low end for the last couple years. This means that homes in Tahoe Donner are typically selling in approximately 9 weeks or less. Great news!

Single family home sales were 26 homes, up from 19 last month. This is about equal to the Nov-Dec sales for last year.  Regarding new home sales, there are still 7 on the market and not more expected before next summer. We have seen a slowdown in buildable lot sales since we are at the end of the 2010 building season.

Tahoe Donner Single Family Home Median and Average Home Price

One can see that the average and median prices fell off a bit this month. Last month's average was skewed with the sale of a $1.33M home on Skislope Way and a $1.79M home on Glacier Way in Nov.

One factor that has affected this price curve is a reduction of new high end new home construction activity in Tahoe Donner in 2009 and 2010. This has tended to keep single family (SF) home pricing a bit lower until Nov. where we had a couple high end homes sell.  Since we are getting some recent new home activity, one can expect that prices could stay a bit higher over the next few months. This is another good sign of a strong market because prices tend to be holding in even without a significant number of more expensive new homes coming on the market.

A few other statistics - average sq footage was 2293, $ per sq ft average was $230 and sold price to last revised listed price was averaging 96%.

Tahoe Donner Condo Sales

There were 7 condo sales in Tahoe Donner in Dec 2010. The average price was $196K and the median price was $198K. Days on market (DOM) averaged 175 days and $ per square foot is averaging $199. Average sold to last list price was 90%.

I hope this data, presented in this form was useful to you. For an instant update, or a discussion about condos/townhomes, please call me and I'll be pleased to provide you with the most recent data available. MLS data is available and I encourage the buyer or seller to study the data and arrive at their own conclusions before making a buy or sell decision. Contact me if you would like to see the "raw" data. I also have sold price vs. listed price data and prices per sq. ft. - this is very helpful if you are considering selling or buying a home - call or email me if you have any questions or to request additional data.

It's true, a listed home that is professionally staged sells much quicker than a poorly staged home. Buyers love a home that is clean, warm and inviting so they can imagine their family enjoying the home and making wonderful memories.

Call Becky and discuss the possibilities. 530-414-4680

November looks great for Tahoe Donner Single Family Home sales. We had 18 single family home sales in tahoe Donner with 7 more pending, 18 contingency offers and 6 short sale contracts opened. The 18 sales compares to 27 sales in October. We certainly could have had similar sales if some of the pending and contingent closed by the end of the month. The good news here is that we have a great start for Dec sales which should also be a good month. I will update my graphs in a few days but for those of you who can't wait, here's a link to last months report and graphs. http://www.truckeehome411.com/truckee-real-estate-tahoe-donner-oct-10-sales/ 

Contact me if you have any questions. Gary at 530-448-1100, truckeerealestate@gmail.com

Here is a late month update for Oct Single Family Home sales. This is the data from the local board as of  Oct 31st - we may see a small change Monday as the final results are put into the database.

As of the 31st we have closed 26 sales and have 8 pending and 21 contingent - compared to 26 sales last month. Another great month for Tahoe Donner.

What else is happening? Single Family Home Inventory dropped from 160 in Sept down to 132 homes in Oct. Strong sales plus Ski Leases would account for that drop.

And what else is happening? We have 7 Brand New Homes for sale in Tahoe Donner - I don't recall seeing this many new units for sale in quite a while. Great news!

These homes are shown below - contact me if you want more detail or want to see any of them. Gary at truckeerealestate@gmail.com, 530-448-1100

So, inventory is down slightly, sales are great, 7 brand new homes for sale. See below for a listing of the new homes - contact me if you want more information or would like to arrange a viewing of any of these homes.

Conclusion - Tahoe Donner is a great place to buy!

Truckee Real Estate - Tahoe Donner Single family Home Sales - August 2010

The following Figure shows Tahoe Donner Single Family Home activity from Jan 2008 through August ‘10.

The data is obtained from the Tahoe MLS published data. This is for single family homes only - contact me for data on Tahoe Donner Condos or data for other Truckee areas. Gary at 530-448-1100 or TruckeeRealEstate@gmail.com.



Tahoe Donner August 2010 Single Family Home Sales

Figure 1. Tahoe Donner Single Family Home Sales - Note seasonality of sales

Single Family home sales in August '10 were much stronger compared to last year.  This is significant since sales in Tahoe Donner are extremely seasonal. The net-net is that for a true picture of the market activity one must look at seasonality throughout the year. So, based on seasonality one can expect that sales will continue to rise the rest of 2010 as we get into the fall season. Overall, August was an outstanding month!

Inventory (# of SF listings) dropped a bit from 167 to 159.  As mentioned in the last couple months report the inventory has grown as property owners have worked on their homes over the summer and have now listed them before the busy fall selling season - note the seasonality of sales shown in Figure 1 where August through the end of the year is typically strong. Note that inventory tends to be a bit higher before we enter this strong selling season and falls in Sept-Dec.

When you consider we have over 5200 homes in Tahoe Donner inventory is approximately 3 % of the homes in TD.

Average Days on market (DOM) decreased considerably  to 44 - which looking at the above graph is 33% lower than last year and the lowest in several years except for Jan of this year. This means that homes in Tahoe Donner are typically selling in 6 weeks or less. Great news!

Single family home sales were 24 homes, up from 13 last month. The 24 home sales are higher  than August for the last couple years.  As mentioned previously, based on seasonality data for the last couple years we can expect to see home sales rising through the fall. Regarding new home sales, there are a several on the market with a few more coming before winter. Regarding lots, we can expect a slowdown in  buildable lot sales as we enter the end of the summer/fall  building season.

Tahoe Donner Single Family Prices - August 2010

Figure 2. Tahoe Donner Single Family Home Median and Average Home Price

One can see that the average and median prices are holding fairly steady through ‘09.  And '10. This is a good trend and could be construed as a sign that the Tahoe Donner single family home market is healthy.

One factor that affects this price curve is that we have had  a dearth of new high end new home construction activity in Tahoe Donner. This has  tended  to keep single family (SF) home pricing a bit lower until we get some additional high end construction activity and new homes for sale. Since we are getting some new home activity recently one can expect that prices will lift up in the next few months. This is another good sign of a strong market because prices tend to be holding in even without the expensive new homes coming on the market.

I hope this data, presented in this form was useful to you. For an instant update, or a discussion about condos/townhomes, please call me and I'll be pleased to provide you with the most recent data available. MLS data is available and I encourage the buyer or seller to study the data and arrive at their own conclusions before making a buy or sell decision. Contact me if you would like to see the "raw" data. I also have sold price vs. listed price data and prices per sq ft -  this is very helpful if you are considering selling or buying a home - call me for a copy of this data.

Gary LaBelle, your Truckee Realtor

www.truckeehome411.com

TruckeeRealEstate@Gmail.com

(530) 448-1100

DRE #01495906

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Club Membership

Equally unique to the Martis Camp community is our multi-generational club membership structure. Unlike so many private clubs, Martis Camp welcomes the immediate family of club members to enjoy the club as family guests. And memberships can be passed on to future heirs, as well, generation after generation. These unique membership attributes are just two more ways for the family-centered culture of Martis Camp to thrive.

Click here for more information or call or email Gary at 530-448-1100, TruckeeRealEstate@gmail.com