I know resolutions and predictions normally come at New Year’s but with the rapidly changing Lake Tahoe real estate market I thought it would be a great time to share my predictions for the rest of 2013. Summer has apparently been the time to buy a home, but will this continue?
Predictions for Lake Tahoe Real Estate
- Interest rates will remain low. Interest rates have crept up a bit over the last couple of months, but Ben Bernake (Chairman of the Federal Reserve) said they will continue to buy up $85 million in bonds each month until at least mid-2014 which will keep interest rates low.
- Prices will level off. As a whole, home prices in the US have increased over 10% during the past 12 months. In South Lake Tahoe, prices have gone up 17% over the last 12 months. I believe that home prices will start to level off as the increases cannot be sustained for much longer. We aren’t anywhere near another “bubble”, in fact, I expect some leveling off. I can’t see this pace continuing which would be good for the health of the Lake Tahoe Real Estate market.
- More inventory coming on the market. Home prices were driven mainly due to the limited supply of homes for sale, not the increased demand. As more homes come on the market I see this causing more stabilization in the market. Many areas are seeing the increased building but that isn’t the case in Lake Tahoe. With very few building permits available the homes on the market are almost home resales. For the year, new listings are still on the decline, but we’ve seen a steady increase in availability since January of this year.
- Timing is everything. I’ve been consulting my buyers and sellers for several months on how to be in the right place and the right time with Lake Tahoe real estate. With the reduced inventory, we were seeing even less than desirable homes going very quickly. You need to be able to pull the trigger when the right house comes up for sale. Keep tabs on the local market and look for trends.
Keep up to date on Tahoe Real Estate
- Sign up for an email notification so you’ll know the minute Tahoe properties are listed.
- Call us directly at 530-541-2465 and we’ll go over all your options.
- Search all homes for sale around the lake. Our website makes it easy to search for homes that match your criteria.
- Get a FREE custom market evaluation for your home.
