Truckee Real Estate Market Analysis as of 01/08/2010

>There are some good signs for the Truckee real estate markets going into 2010 and there is a possibility that we are closer to recovery than previously thought.  There are still concerns and questions but most indicators are pointing to a brighter 2010.  The theme over the last 12 months has been savy buyers taking advantage of 6 year low pricing and historically low interest rates.  This has resulted in a 20% increase in sales year over year!

I have analyzed the Truckee markets on a year over year basis and this is what I found:

Average Price: $639,000 which is Down 14.7% year over year
Median Price: $519,875 which is Down 14.7% year over year
Number of Sales: 492 which is Up 20% year over year
Days on Market: 117 which is Up 1% year over year

It is no surprise that the average and median home prices are down year over year as most people selling in the current market need to sell and have priced their homes according to the current market conditions.  In the last year we saw 127 distressed (bank owned and short sale) property sales which greatly effected the average and median pricing as these homes have sold well below market pricing.  127 distressed property sales represents 26% of the total sales for the year in Truckee!  The good news is that currently there are only 68 bank owned and short sale listings in Truckee which is an indicator that stabilization may be on the horizon as the ratio of listings to sales is at 46% which should help eliminate a good amount of distressed listings from the market and help push the market towards stabilization.

I dove a little deeper into my analysis and looked at October 2009 to January 8, 2010 sales versus October 2008 to January 8, 2009 sales and a better picture started to emerge.

Average Price: $645,235 which is Down 10.5% year over year
Median Price: $519,875 which is Down 3% year over year
Number of Sales: 176 which is Up 43% year over year
Days on Market: 111 which is Up 2% year over year

Looking at this 3 month snapshot I become pleased with the fact that sales are up 43% which shows that the Truckee market has strength and that the consumer recognizes that many opportunities exist in this resort market.  I am also very pleased with the median sales price which is down only 3% from the same time period a year ago and shows a much better picture of the market compared to looking at the entire year.

At the start of 2010 we are seeing lots of activity in the Truckee real estate market, with buyers actively pursuing well priced properties, a higher level of closed sales than the year previous, and there are fewer distressed listings(REO and Short Sales)which should help start the stabilization process.  Currently it feels like we are about to make a turn for the best in the market and with a little economic luck we could possibly see the some modest appreciation in some neighborhoods by the end of the summer.  Only time will tell and I will keep reviewing the market in order to keep you informed about the Truckee real estate market.

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