Matty’s Minute: A February Market Update

Tahoe Truckee real estate has begun 2024 with a notable year-over-year improvement in both sales volume and pricing. Carrying forward a dynamic that defined the latter parts of 2023, momentum continues to build back to ‘normal’ market conditions. Following the whipsaw conditions of an overheated 2020-2021 followed by an extreme cooling from mid-2022 through mid-2023, an ‘average’ performance in 2024 would be welcome.

The first two months of any given year are typically the quietest for real estate in the Tahoe Truckee region. Despite the hordes of visitors to the area, holiday festivities and variable early season snow are not conducive to the time and energy required to make such a meaningful decision. Nevertheless, the consistency of visitation gives an excellent barometer of demand at the year’s outset and optimism feels to be on the rise.

A disappointing 2023 in which neither interest rates nor available inventory were in the buyer’s favor is giving way to an environment in which both are hinting at better times to come.

66 residential home sales in January still lags meaningfully behind the historic average however this figure outperforms the same period in 2023 by 20%. Proportionately, there are 20% more listings available than a year ago.

In January of 2023, the median home price was $975,000. 2024’s median price opens at $1,153,750; an 18% premium. A full 62% of all sales realized a price greater than $1,000,000 compared to 54% a year prior.

Anchoring the strong January were transactions evenly distributed throughout the region’s resort communities including Lahontan, Martis Camp, Schaffer’s Mill, and Gray’s Crossing as well as the typical steady stream of activity within Tahoe Donner.

Inventory stands at 4 months’ supply; proportionate to ratios throughout most of 2023. This balanced activity is likely to hold through Q1 before activity and available listings grow from Q2 through the peak selling period in early Q4.

For now, our hope is that goldilocks real estate activity can be bolstered by a similarly ‘just right’ winter. The forecast for early February appears ready to deliver.

As always, please contact me for more information about current market dynamics and/or to schedule a tour or listing consultation today. 

-Matty