Q1 2018 Lake Tahoe Market Report

The return of plentiful snow to the Sierra Nevada mountains brought visitors flocking to the Lake/Tahoe Truckee region in the first quarter and helped drive home sales, which remained consistent with typical seasonal trends. Sales of homes priced above $2 million continued to dominate the market, jumping by 164 percent over the same period last year. Despite the increase in higher-priced home sales activity, inventory has been declining over the last couple of quarters, and the first quarter ended about 24 percent below levels seen at the same time last year. The lack of inventory may be driving some urgency among buyers, and homes are selling faster than they did one year ago.

While bidding wars were not very common, about one-quarter of homes priced between $1 million and $2 million sold over the asking price, a notable jump from last year.

Looking Forward: As the snow melts, we expect more homes to hit the market in the second quarter, giving buyers more options. Market conditions remain favorable for buyers who are looking for second homes, and anticipation over rising interest rates will help spur some activity as well. As Lake Tahoe's real estate market depends heavily on second-home buyers from the Bay Area, volatility among tech stocks may cause some potential buyers to pause.

Defining Lake Tahoe/Truckee: Our real estate markets in the Lake Tahoe/Truckee region include the communities of: Alpine Meadows, Donner Lake, Donner Summit, Lahontan, Martis Valley, North Shore Lake Tahoe, Northstar, Squaw Valley, Tahoe City, Tahoe Donner, Truckee, and the West Shore of Lake Tahoe. Sales data in the charts includes condominiums in these communities.