Attention Lake Tahoe and Truckee home buyers!! There is still time to purchase a home and recieve up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers and $6,500 for long-time homeowners primary home purchase tax rebates. The new deadlines are as follows: Buyer’s must enter into a contract to purchase a home on or before April 30, 2010 and close on the home sale by June 30, 2010. These rebates are available for primary homes only, unfortunately no vacation home rebates! There are some rules and limitations about qualifying for the rebates. More details can be found online and by talking with your tax advisor. Call Kelly Smith today to discuss some great affordable home listings in Truckee and around the Lake Tahoe area.

Why are there Distressed Properties in Lake Tahoe?

The number of distressed property listings in the Lake Tahoe area is continuing to increase. Due to the ongoing decline in property values, more and more property sellers are being faced with the realization that their properties are not going to sell for the amount of their existing loans. Additionally with so many property owners under water on their loans many homeowners faced with foreclosure are simply walking away from their mortgage obligations.

Although the foreclosure rate of the primarily vacation home driven market of Lake Tahoe is not nearly as high as the numerous areas of California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida, there are a fairly large number of distressed property listings, either short sales or REOs. Whereas in many high foreclosure areas the problems are mainly due to the excessive development and suspect lending practices, the vacation home driven market place has faltered for other reasons.

During the first part of this decade I observed many homeowners (1st as well as 2nd) take out multiple loans and lines of credit based on the perceived, over inflated, values of their homes. Now, over the past 3 years we are seeing the devastating effect of the 1-2 punch of a downturn in the economy and the rapid depreciation of real estate values. Specifically, homeowners who were leveraging their homes are no longer able to make the payments due to all of the varying economic, employment, spending and other factors. One of the first steps towards cutting back on one’s expenses is liquidating that vacation home. However, with the limited number of demand for such property, the market has become saturated hence values going down. Into the vicious cycle we go!

There are currently 1,791 properties for sale in the Tahoe Sierra MLS, of these, 245 are distressed (short sale or REO offerings) and 1,546 are standard listings. A 16% distressed property-listing share of the market.

Please find additional information about these distressed property listings and more at the following pages: http://www.realestate-laketahoe.com/Short%20Sales.htm, http://www.realestate-laketahoe.com/truckee-shortsales.htm, and http://www.realestate-laketahoe.com/Foreclosures1.htm

There are currently 334 vacant lots available in Truckee at this time. Of theses lots for sale, approx. 8 are Bank-Owned foreclosures, approx.12 are Short Sale offerings and 314 are standard listings. The prices range from $65,000 to $6,250,000 with a median price of $295,760 and are located in various Truckee subdivisions including; Tahoe Donner, Donner Lake, Sierra Meadows, Lahontan, Old Greenwood, Glenshire, Prosser and others.

Contact Kelly Smith for more information about Truckee Golf Course lots available starting at $150,000!

Foreclosure of properties in Lake Tahoe, CA and surrounding areas continue to occur and have an impact on the real estate market as a whole. Here are some of the current market statistics for the Tahoe Sierra Board of Realtors MLS Servicing North Lake Tahoe, Truckee, Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, West Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Donner, Northstar and more:

Number of Active Single Family Homes on the Market: 1,016
Number of Active REO, Foreclosure, Bank-Owned Single Family Homes on the Market: 21
Market Share: 2%

Number of Active Condominium, Townhomes on the Market: 331
Number of Active REO, Foreclosure, Bank-Owned Condominium, Townhomes on the Market:10
Market Share: 3%

Number of Active Vacant Lots on the Market: 690
Number of Active REO, Foreclosure, Bank-Owned Vacant Lots on the Market: 14
Market Share: 2%

Find current foreclosure listings and the Lake Tahoe real estate market at my website: www.realestate-laketahoe.com

This information was compiled from data available in the Tahoe Sierra MLS November 12, 2008 and is deemed reliable, but is not garanteed.

#1 Prices are at all all time low since january 2005. We have seen as much as 25% depreciation in the average lake tahoe real estate property.
#2 Some bank foreclosures are good deals- The average bank looses $55,000 on a bank sale property. Sometime even more in the lake tahoe market.
#3 Interest rates are still at historic lows with rate hovering around 6% on a 30 year mortgage why not buy now.
#4 Inventory of property is on the rise, in fact there are more homes on the market now than in 2 years. Our average inventory is up 30% from last year at the same time.
#5 Prices will not continue to drop forever. trying to time the market is silly. real estate agents do not know where the market will stop at…until prices start to go up….

You can get more information on all these ideas at www.realestate-laketahoe.com

Rates are still at a historical low in the 6.5% range for a 30 year mortgage for a 2nd home or primary home. Down payments are in the 20% range on most 2nd home purchases. you can find some good buys at www.realestate-laketahoe.com

Kelly Smith at century 21- tahoe north realtors sells approximately 82% off all lake tahoe foreclosures in the tahoe sierra board of realtors mls. This is an astounding number of sales with over 30 close deals since december 07 alone…if you want a deal check out www.realestate-laketahoe.com

Overall bank foreclosure listing on the rise. Lake Tahoe has seen a 5% increase in foreclosures in the last 3 months according to the sacrmanento bee newspaper. There are “some really good buys “,says Kelly Smith “local foreclosure expert”…check out his web site at www.realestate-laketahoe.com

3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car garage wells fargo bank repo just listed, nice clean home in good truckee setting. Check this home out at www.realestate-laketahoe.com

just $399,000

Home prices continue to fall with no immediate relief in site. we are still seeing lots of foreclosure homes on the market with sales slightly picking up due to the time of year and sales in and around the tahoe area historically moving better due to cyclical sales.