South Lake Tahoe in Top Ten of U.S. Second Home Markets

South Lake Tahoe is Top Ten in Location and Lifestyle, not in high end home prices.

(Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / March 15, 2011 / Richard Bolen)

The good news is a few days ago Barrons found Lake Tahoe as one of the top ten second-home locations in the country. That's not a surprise, however, as we are always that.

The news that's not as good is Barrons took a look at Lake Tahoe real estate from the luxury home point of view only. There is much more to our resort than that.

Though such a view may make sense for Barron's readers, it does not represent the excellent range of choice in second-home opportunities that our real estate market affords.

As such, the Barrons article referenced here has the potential, if not the likelihood of easily misinforming the public. It's our stunningly beautiful location and lifestyle that puts us in the national top ten places to buy a second home. It is not the higher prices of some of our luxury homes.

The Barron's article cites only one of the various neighborhoods around Lake Tahoe. They say that the best place for a vacation home is Martis Camp, which is a stunning location to be sure. But there are many, many others.

Barron's reports that the median sold price of a Martis Camp home was $2.2 million in 2010, up from $1.9 million in 2009. What this suggests is luxury home prices there are up by some $300,000, or about 16% over a year ago.

While that may be true in Martis Camp on the other side of the Lake, the luxury home market is not up in South Lake Tahoe, at least not in terms of price anyway. There are much better luxury home deals to be had now than in a very long time.

The chart below contains all luxury home sales at $2 million or more on the Nevada side of South Lake Tahoe since January 1, 2009.

While this chart is not exactly an apples to apples comparison to the current median sold price of Martis Camp contained in the Barron's article, it does give us a clear look at luxury home activity on the Nevada side of South Lake Tahoe. Numbers here are medians, and the chart indicates (1) there are only a few sales over $2 million in any of the last few years, and (2) there were almost twice as many in 2009 as there were in 2010.

The chart also tells us from a buyer's point of view there is a nice difference between a seller's original list price and and the price that they will ultimately accept. It is safe to assume in most cases that difference will fall between 25% and %30 off original list price. In any event, luxury home prices are not up here, and the truth is we doubt they are in Martis Camp either.

 All is Not High End Luxury Homes Here :
Barrons, we think, would have been more accurate, and responsible, if they mentioned that there are many great home buying opportunities around Lake Tahoe in the current market climate that are not high end luxury homes. It is possible, and many more know this than don't, to have a second home amid our top ten luxury location and lifestyle for $200,000, for example. Now we're talking!

At present, the median sold price of the California side of South Lake Tahoe is $280,000, a far cry from the lofty prices in the Barron's article. (Median price does not include the Tahoe Keys, and is based on all sales in the last 180-days. With Tahoe Keys included, that price is $298,250.)

 The Top Ten Locations :
The following are the Top Ten second home locations in the country according to Barron's:

1. Sea Island, GA.

2. Mauai, Hawaii

3. Hamptons, N.Y.

4. Aspen, Colo

5. Martha's Vineyard, Mass

6. Deer Valley, Utah

7. Lake Tahoe

8. Kiawah Island, S.C.

9. Palm Beach, FL

10. Pebble Beach, CA

Mar 7, 2011: Are the Wealthy Buying more South Lake Tahoe Luxury Homes Yet?
Jan 4, 2011: Stateline, NV luxury home sales
Jan 1, 2011: 2010 Homes for Sale in Stateline, NV
Dec 2, 2010: South Lake Tahoe 2010 Homes for Sale Demand: Stateline, NV
Sep 2, 2010: Sales Report, here.
June 22, 2010 Sales Report, here.
May 18, 2010, Sales Report, here.
February 2, 2010 Sales Report, here.
January 18, 2010, Final Stateline, NV 2009 sales, here.
December 20, 2009 Sales Report, here.