With real estate poised to lead our economy out of this pandemic, many people are wondering what will happen to home values. Many buyers and sellers have pushed pause on their Lake Tahoe real estate goals. For sellers, one of the main reasons is that having strangers inside their property seems like a risky move while governments and public health officials are urging us to stay home and practice social distancing. For buyers, making a large financial investment (like buying homes for sale in Lake Tahoe) seems like it could be a risky move. There are also both sides that are watching what this current affair will do to home prices. Some buyers feel that this pandemic could push the market in their favor allowing them to get a great deal on homes for sale in Lake Tahoe. While that could happen down the line, that isn’t something to bank on in the current moment. Let’s look at the facts:
We went into Covid-19 with high demand and low inventory. This has been the main real estate headline across the country for the past few years. While every market is a little different, Lake Tahoe real estate has not been the exception to the rule. We have been hovering around a seller’s market consistently for the past couple years, with some of our neighborhoods having very little inventory. Additionally, prices have continued going up. In looking at this month’s market report, prices for homes for sale in Lake Tahoe are not only up from this time last year, but also just last month. Every month, the National Association of Realtors surveys over 50,000 Realtors for their Realtors Confidence index. In this survey, the ask each real estate professional what their expectations are for the market conditions, home prices and sales. The most recent report further backs up that inventory is still low across the U.S. AND buyer demand is still very high. According to this report, only 3 states had stable seller traffic (Wyoming, Louisiana and Virginia) and only 1 had strong seller traffic. This state was surprisingly, Alaska. Which means that seller traffic is considered weak across the country. On the buyer side, the demand for a home was strong in 34 of the 50 states with the rest having stable demand. There was not 1 state that had weak buyer traffic. So now what are the experts saying?
“Two forces prevent a collapse in house prices. First, as we indicated in our earlier research report, U.S. housing markets face a large supply deficit. Second, population growth and pent up household formations provide a tailwind to housing demand.”-Freddie Mac
“Housing supply remains at historically low levels, so house price growth is likely to slow, but it’s not likely to go negative.” Mark Fleming, Chief Economist, First American.
All of these details put together suggest that house prices are expected to remain stable throughout the rest of the year. This means that if you are thinking about listing, reach out to your local Lake Tahoe Realtor. We can help you position yourself to attract buyer attention while the demand is still high. For more information, feel free to give me a call. I would be happy to help!
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