The South Lake Tahoe, CA Median Sold House… Now and Then.

New Blog Feature to Help South Lake Tahoe, CA Home Buyers

 (Lake Tahoe Real Estate Blog / October 19, 2011 / Richard Bolen)

We have been working for the last year and a half to bring new features on this blog to better help South Lake Tahoe, CA  home buyers and sellers. We're grateful to announce that some of these efforts have just been launched.

 Before we lead you to the first new feature, please understand that this is the beta, or testing phase of product development. This means that our process with these new features is continuing, and at some point they will evolve into something that looks and works at a much higher consumer product scale.

 The first of these new features, Characteristics of the South Lake Tahoe, CA House by Price (here), is focused on helping the South Lake Tahoe, CA home buyer, although it can and will help a home seller sell their house quicker for more money.

 Particularly in our current real estate market climate, most home buyers are shopping for "deals." That's rather normal in a buyer's market, but this is no normal buyers market.

 Three factors make the current South Lake Tahoe, CA real estate market the best advantage for a home buyer we have seen in decades:

1. never before seen mortgage interest rates,
2. distressed properties at the lowest home values we have ever seen, and
3. a 45% overall decline in home values across the board since 2005.

It's no wonder that South Lake Tahoe, CA home buyers are "deal" focused. We would be too if we didn't already live here. As this new market reality has emerged, however, we've noticed three home buyer trends emerge about this deal-hunting frenzy:

1. the number of homes sold per year is higher now than at any time in the last 5 years,
2. most home buyers can not easily recognize the deal they seek, and
3. there are way too many home buyers who are stopped cold by the fear of paying too much.

Of these three home buyer trends, Characteristics of the South Lake Tahoe, CA House by Price (here) addresses the two most important of these new trends.

This new application opens within the price range $200,000 to $249,999. This is the price range of the current South Lake Tahoe, CA median sold house, which is now $238,000. The public can also select any other price range that they may be interested in as well.

By clicking on the statements highlighted by colored bullet points, a South Lake Tahoe, CA home buyer or seller will come to understand four major factors, all comparing the relative characteristics of the South Lake Tahoe, CA house now and within each year back to 2003. A colorful bar-chart addressing each of these for major factors is triggered upon clicking each bullet point.

The interactive chart that pops up on each of these key characteristics: age, size, square foot value and demand comes with interpretive statements to best help the public understand the specifics of each chart and exactly what it means. These statements are those found in either a yellow or red colored box directly under each interactive chart.

In looking at these characteristics, charts and interpretive statements, and a home buyer is better able to recognize the deal they are looking for; that deal is found in the house, not necessarily in the price. A newer, bigger, less expensive per square foot house is always a better deal, and it is today's best deal to boot.

These characteristics, and the visual charts they produce in this new application, also help the home buyer understand that they are not paying too much. For example, if a buyer understands that the house they buy today is 112% larger than a house that was priced the same a few years ago, they are more likely to find that one factor alone as the deal they are looking for, and that they are not paying too much for it.

In the example on the first page of this app, the South Lake Tahoe, CA home buyer clearly sees that today's house that is priced between $200,000 and $249,999 is:

1. 19 years newer than it was a few years ago,
2. 112% (709 sq ft) larger on average than it was in 2005,
3. more of them are selling now than a year ago, and
4. today's house in this price range is 57% less per square foot than it was five years ago as well.

If one wants to dig deeper into the comparative characteristics of today's house to that of years prior, one can click on each row of the spreadsheet found under the interactive charts. This allows for a buyer or seller to see data indicating:
oldest and newest houses sold in each price range;

1. the average age;
2. the largest and smallest houses sold;
3. the average size;
4. the lowest and highest price per square foot;
5. the average price per square foot;
6. the number of sales;
7. the number of bank owned sales and short sales, and
8. the percentage of distressed property sales.

We hope you find this new feature helpful.

Some of our videos that you may enjoy:

Jul 5, 2011: Awesome Fireworks Finale: South Lake Tahoe, July 4, 2011
Dec 9, 2010: How to find and use our Bolero Button… and why you should.
Oct 20, 2010: Bijou Neighborhood video
Sep 28, 2010: A South Lake Tahoe Indian Summer
Sep 23, 2010: Emerald Bay Treetops… and a Bald Eagle
Sep 16, 2010: Walking on Water… South Lake Tahoe Style
Sep 11, 2010: Al Tahoe Neighborhood video