Has The Pandemic Buying Frenzy Reached A Conclusion?

The 1st quarter has come to a close and it’s a very different story this year for Incline Village real estate sales compared to one year ago. While sales of condos and freestanding condos are fairly similar to last year, sales of houses declined by 50%.

There were a total of 76 single-family homes, condos and freestanding condos closing escrow during the first 3 months of 2022. This compares to 109 sales during the same timeframe last year. Sales of freestanding condos were identical with 9 units changing hands to new owners in both years.

Condo sales retreated slightly with 40 condos closing escrow in 2022 versus 45 units in 2021. Prices for condos in McCloud and 3rd Creek continued in an uptrend during the first 3 months this year. But, the most recent sale in McCloud that closed on April 1st came in quite a bit lower than the 2 prior transactions. #33 McCloud is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 1325 ft.2, two-story unit that closed escrow at $990,000. The previous two sales in the complex for the more traditional one level, approximately 1100 ft.2 units sold at $1,150,000. #33 is in a very good location in the group that is closest to the beach. It’s hard to explain the price difference based on upgrades or furnishings alone. So that leads us to cogitate whether this was simply a very motivated seller anxious to unload the property or whether we have seen the peak in prices for McCloud.

The precipitous drop in the number of single-family homes closing escrow during the 1st quarter could well be an indicator that demand is slowing. Even though inventory levels are fairly low, there was still a sufficient number of properties listed for sale on the Incline Village real estate market. Winter weather did not play a role in dampening unit sales during the 1st quarter. In fact, Northern California had only 4 days of measurable precipitation during the first 3 months of this year. There have been years where monster snowstorms closed the roads and made it impossible for buyers to look at properties at Lake Tahoe. But that was certainly not the case during the first 3 months of 2022.

The single-family homes changing hands ranged in price from $1,265,000 up to $17.5 million. Seeing this kind of sales activity across all price ranges is a good thing. But the substantial decline in overall sales of single-family homes makes us wonder whether the pandemic buying frenzy has finally reached a conclusion.

We encourage anyone who wishes to sell their property this year to put it on the market at the earliest opportunity while inventory levels are still low. It’s a lot easier to sell a property at a higher price when you don’t have much competition.