Affordable Homes for Middle Class Home Buyers Dwindling

Across the county, middle-class home buyers are finding far fewer affordable homes for sale. In many of the top real estate markets, more than half of the homes for sale were out of range for the middle class.

Lake Tahoe real estate market still affordable

The Lake Tahoe real estate market is a different scenario since most home buyers are from outside of the region, so their income isn’t earned in Lake Tahoe.  Affordability is an issue though.  Home prices in South Lake Tahoe have risen 26.7% in the last year.  The average price of a home sold in September was $298,500.  If you look at the middle class in Sacramento and the Bay Area, which is where most of our home buyers come from, you’ll see that this price fits their income profile, but their Lake Tahoe home purchase is usually a second or third home.

Distressed home sales almost non-existent

Many of the middle class were able to buy homes over the past few years due to the number of distressed homes.  In South Lake Tahoe, the number of foreclosed homes dropped over 71% and short sale homes dropped 74%. In the past year, there were 67 foreclosed homes that sold, down considerably from the previous year when there were 217 (and 211 the prior year).

Are all of the affordable homes gone?

This depends on what you call affordable.  The number of homes for sale in South Lake Tahoe is down 25% and the number of homes priced under $300,000 has dropped 35.8%.  All price ranges have seen drops in inventory, just not as much of a drop. Please note that Lake Tahoe home prices are still considerably below what they were in 2006. We predict our market will continue to appreciate at a steady rate in the next year.

Tricks on how to find an “affordable home” in the Lake Tahoe real estate market:

Here are my 3 helpful hints on how to stay informed and stay on top of the Lake Tahoe real estate market:

1. Sign up for email notifications of the Lake Tahoe MLS new home listings.  You will be notified of homes coming on the market the moment they are listed.  You will know as soon as the agents know.
2. Another way to find out about the Lake Tahoe real estate market is to sign up to receive our blogs via email.
3. Receive my monthly newsletter.