Jamie Schou Real Estate

Lake Tahoe/Truckee – Distressed property sales have made up a large portion of overall sales in the Lake Tahoe and Truckee markets this year. While bank-owned and short sale offerings comprise only 10% of the current listings for single family homes and condominiums, they have represented a full 31% of sold properties to date this year.

With banks selling at discounted prices, it has been tough for the average home seller to compete and sell their properties. On the other end, buyers have been snatching up deals throughout the market.

While many think of foreclosures and short sales as taking place toward the lower end of the market, distressed property sales have taken place across the pricing spectrum. Sales have been recorded from $46,000 to over $1,500,000 this year on bank-owned and short-sale properties.

Mortgage rates continue to be at record-level lows, making the buying environment favorable to those who can qualify for a loan. Contact me today for information on the best deals in the market. You can view all local area foreclosure and short sale listings. If you would like to get automatic updates as new listings come on the market, sign up here.

Jamie Schou
Direct – 530-798-1393
jschou@kw.com

LAKE TAHOE – Sales of homes in the Lake Tahoe Basin and Truckee are up following the first three quarters of 2010, but median home prices remain low, according to several area real estate agents.The number of properties sold in the Lake Tahoe Basin during the first nine months of 2010 increased 28 percent compared to the same period last year, according to a statement from Chase International.

Sales of single-family homes at the East Shore decreased 2 percent during that time, but increased everywhere else around Lake Tahoe and Truckee, up 28 percent at the South Shore, 46 percent in Tahoe City, 27 percent in Incline Village and 13 percent in Truckee, according to the statement.

“I’m reluctant to say we’ve hit the bottom of the market, but the number of buyers has substantially increased,” said Sue Lowe, corporate broker and senior vice president of Chase International. “The prices are still stabilizing.”

The biggest decrease in price has been in Tahoe City, where the median price of a single-family home dropped 19 percent, from $570,000 to $460,000, compared to the same time last year.

Median single-family home prices dropped 12 percent from $925,000 to $812,500 in Incline Village, while prices at the South and East shores saw slight upticks.

Median prices for condominiums are down around the lake, with the steepest decreases being experience in Tahoe City, where the median price for a condominium dropped 20 percent, from $375,000 to $300,500 compared to the first three quarters of 2009.

Although the sale of several lakefront properties has helped the high-end market, the numbers through nine months point to a market dominated by bargain hunters.

The prices have finally got to the point where the people are jumping into the market, said Chris Plastiras, broker and co-owner of Lakeshore Realty in Incline Village. Plastiras said he expected the bargain hunting trend to continue for the next few years.

“What we’re seeing are people who are looking for value,” Plastiras said. “When they see that value they pretty much buy the property. We’re seeing property sell for prices that they may have sold for 10 years ago.”

Distressed properties, those in short sales or bank-owned, represent a significant minority of the properties sold so far this year. Distressed properties sales represent about 25 percent of the Incline Village market, Plastiras said.

“The theme is, they’re looking for a deal,” Bolen said.

31% of single-family home sales in the first three quarters of this year were either REO or short sales in the Tahoe Sierra MLS area. Sales for the first three quarters is up 32% over the same period last year.

If you are loking for a great deal on a home in the North Lake Tahoe or Truckee area, let me put my knowledge and experience to work for you. I can help you find the best deals out there and take advantage of today’s market. You can also view all area Short Sale and REO Listings. Contact me today for a free consultation. View All Area Listings

Jamie Schou
Direct – 530-798-1393
jschou@kw.com

I came across an interesting article today from the Wall Street Journal that details the correlation between bank owned homes on the market and the drop in prices, as well as how the banks’ plans for foreclosures will drive the future market. Here’s an excerpt from the article (or read entire article):

“The speed at which house prices fall over the next few months could depend less on mortgage rates and Americans’ appetite for home buying than on how banks decide to manage the huge number of foreclosed homes they own or may take from delinquent borrowers in the near future.

Unlike home owners, banks often are much quicker to slash prices to unload properties quickly.

The upshot is that, the more homes being sold by lenders, the faster prices tend to fall. That pattern was clear over the past two years: Price declines that began four years ago accelerated rapidly in 2008 as banks dumped foreclosed properties at fire-sale prices. By January 2009, the share of distressed sales had soared to 45% of all sales nationally; it was even higher in hard-hit markets such as Phoenix, according to analysts at Barclays Capital.”

The situation is similar here in the Tahoe/Truckee market, where price declines have been seen over the past few years as well. Right now, bank owned and short sale offerings make up only 9% of current residential listings, while year-to-date they have made up 33% of sales and account for 23% of pending sales. Not as high as the national statistics but still a large percentage, especially when you look at the difference between the listing and sales volume.

Feel free to contact me if you would like to capitalize on the pricing advantage of foreclosure and short sale properties here in the Tahoe/Truckee market, or view all current distressed property listings HERE.

Jamie Schou
Direct – 530-798-1393
jschou@kw.com

EMERYVILLE, CA (LoanSafe.org) – The number of price-reduced homes on the market increased 3.26 percent in August compared to July, according to the latest data from national brokerage ZipRealty (NASDAQ: ZIPR). ZipRealty’s monthly review of MLS-listed properties in 26 major markets found that 47 percent of “for sale” homes had at least one price reduction and the average seller actually slashed their list price twice to attract buyers.The growing number of price-reduced homes outpaced newly listed homes in August, which increased less than one percent, with sellers nationally reducing their asking price by an average of $19,092.

“It appears that homebuyers are taking their time as they don’t feel a sense of urgency to make an offer, unless the price is right, and sellers are having to aggressively cut their prices to stay competitive in this market,” said Leslie Tyler, vice president of marketing for ZipRealty. “We typically find if a buyer hasn’t walked through the door in 30 to 45 days, a seller needs to lower their asking price. If a home hasn’t had an offer in six months, it’s time to rethink the sale.”

These numbers and statistics play out in the Truckee/Tahoe market as well. Since September 1 there have been 139 price reductions in our market, with only 74 new listings during the same period. Over half of these listings (73) have been reduced by $50,000 or more from their original list price. The average reduction has been around 15% of the original listed price, and these homes have been on the market an average of 166 days. Compare this to the 544 single family home sales so far this year in the Tahoe Sierra MLS, and the numbers become clear. Homes have been selling for an average of 85% of their originally listed asking price after 114 days on the market. Homes selling in 30 days or less sold at a 96% average of original list price. This shows sellers need to be competitive from the start if they want to attract serious buyers and sell their property in the least amount of time.

Feel free to contact me to discuss the best strategy to position your property in today’s market for a quick sale and maximum return. You can view all local listings Here, or get up-to date foreclosure and REO listings.

Jamie Schou
Direct – 530-798-1393
jschou@kw.com

McLean, VA – Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), and for yet another week, fixed-rate mortgages reached record lows, while the 5-year adjustable rate remained tied at its low for this survey. (The 30-year fixed-rate survey began in 1971, the 15-year began in 1991, and the 5-year adjustable in 2005.)30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged (so there are lower rates out there!) 4.36 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending August 26, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.42 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.14 percent.

According to Amy Crews Cutts, deputy chief economist at Freddie Mac, existing home sales plunged 27 percent in July, while new homes fell 12 percent to a new all-time record low, which led to some market concerns that the housing market may slow the economic recovery. As a result, long-term bond yields fell to the lowest levels since January 2009, allowing fixed mortgage rates to ease to new record lows this week. Much of the slowdown in sales was expected due to the recently expired homebuyer tax programs. For instance, average existing home sales over the first seven months of 2010 were nearly 8 percent higher than over the same period a year ago. “Moreover, house prices still appear to be stabilizing. Nationally, house prices rose 0.9 percent on a seasonally-adjusted basis during the second quarter of this year this year after 11 consecutive quarterly declines, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s purchase only index. Eight of the nine census regions experienced positive gains, compared to none in the first quarter.” said Amy Crews Cutts.

With interest rates this low, it is a great time to purchase a home here in the Tahoe/Truckee market. Feel free to contact me so we can discuss your real estate needs and how I can help you meet those needs. Search all Area Listings, or view REO/Short Sale Listings.

Jamie Schou
Direct – 530-798-1393
jschou@kw.com

Sales of foreclosure properties accounted for 31 percent of all residential sales nationwide in the first quarter, according to a foreclosure sales report published by RealtyTrac®. The report also showed that the average sales price of properties that sold while in the foreclosure process was nearly 27 percent less than the average sales price of properties not in the foreclosure process.

A total of 144,503 bank-owned (REO) properties were sold to third parties in the first quarter, a decrease of 13 percent from the previous quarter and down 27 percent compared with the first quarter of 2009. REO sales accounted for 19 percent of all sales in the first quarter, up from nearly 16 percent in the previous quarter, but down from 21 percent of all sales in the first quarter of 2009. REOs sold for an average discount of 34 percent, up from an average discount of nearly 32 percent in both the previous quarter and the first quarter of 2009.

Foreclosure sales accounted for 51 percent of all sales in California in the first quarter, up slightly from 50 percent in the fourth quarter, but down from 70 percent of all sales in the first quarter of 2009, according to the report. Read Full Report

Here in the Tahoe/Truckee market, REO properties made up 23% of first quarter sales this year, up just a bit from 20% of sales in the fourth quarter of 2009. If we look at year-to-date sales, 20% of those have been REO properties. If you are looking to take advantage of this market segment, you can view all current area foreclosure and short sale listings. Feel free to call me to help you find the best deal.

Jamie Schou
Direct – 530-798-1393
jschou@kw.com