3/8/10:
Here are the single-family residence stats for Feb., as promised.   As you can see from the $/sqft, we’ve had a rise in the Moonridge area and a drop in the lakefront area.   This a pretty regular seasonal occurrence up here with most people looking for something close to the slopes in the winter and close to the lake in the summer; so if you are looking for a lakefront (just like with a convertible), this is the time of year to buy it!

FEB.                                $Total Sales       #         $Avg. Sale    Total Sqft     $/Sqft

——————————————————————————–

BBC                                   $1,857,025     14       $132,645           14,831       $125.21      

BBL                                     $3,216,500     13     $247,423             18,845       $170.68

FOX                                    $2,066,001       4       $516,500           10,690         $193.26          

MOON                               $3,107,650     11     $282,514             15,653       $198.53

SUGA                                   $880,555           9         $97,839               6,605         $133.32                

FAWN                                 $475,000           1       $475,000             2,800         $169.64

LAKEFRONT           $1,764,000         2       $882,000             5,395           $326.97

2/5/10:

 Once  again, the snow is starting to come down and the tourists are heading up, so it looks like another busy weekend in Big Bear!   Below are the sales stats, along with sold & pending property lists.   Although sales tend to drop off a bit in the winter, this Jan. was lighter than it would normally be because of the blizzard we had a few weeks ago.   Big Bear basically shut down for about a week (no inspections, escrow offices, etc), so several closings were pushed into the beginning of February.   Nonetheless, sales followed the typical seasonal pattern of less close to the Lake and more in the Moonridge area (close to the slopes).

 Area                 Total Sales $        #Sales     Avg.Sale          Total SqFt        Avg. $/sqft

———————————————————————————————–

BBC                   $2,141,900           12              $178,492         15,350               $139.54

BBL                     $2,284,200             9               $253,800         11,751               $194.38

FOX                     $218,000                   1             $218,000             1,140                 $191.23

MOON             $3,416,300             11              $310,573          19,997                 $170.84

SUGA                $1,407,625            14               $100,545           12,067                 $116.65

FAWN                    $989,000                 3               $329,667           5,694                 $173.69

65 Sold:XPROP – Multi Row View

155 Pending:

XPROP – Multi Row View
 

1/11/10:

As promised, here are the single family residence sales stats by area.   As you can see, there was a rather large increase in the number of sales in Big Bear Lake vs. last month, as well as an increase in $/sqft for the same area.   Fox Farm also had a good-sized increase in $/sqft, as well as avg. sales price.   $/sqft remained relatively the same from the month before in Big Bear City and Sugarloaf.

Area             Total $         #sales           Avg. sale     total sqft       $/sqft

BBC                               2,697,400       12                       $224,783           18,366                  $146.87      

BBL                               7,839,800          27                     $290,363             40,465               $193.74

FOX                                 5,920,500           9                       $657,833              29,497                $200.72

MOON                         3,076,200       11                       $279,655             17,727               $173.53

SUGA                           1,568,607          12                       $130,717                10,362             $151.38

LAKEFRONT       2,565,000           2                   $1,282,500                 8,170                $313.95

FAWN                                                                       0

1/1/10:

As we head into the new year, I thought I would share a quick article which covers CA sales and prices through Nov. of 2009.   As you can see, the numbers are reflective of what we have seen in the Big Bear area.   As of 9am this morning, there were only 656 active single family residences for sale in our MLS for the entire Big Bear area – this is about half of what we had at the peak last year.   There are also less than half the number of bank-owned properties in the MLS as the same time last year.   As you can see from the article, on a statewide basis, sales where up 4.7% and the median price was up 5.8% from the previous year.

For those  who did a little too much celebrating last night or just don’t feel like reading the whole article, the following excerpt does a pretty good job of summarizing:

“With sales bottoming out more than two years ago, and the median home price reaching its trough in February 2009, California remains ahead of the nation in market recovery,” said C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie-Appleton-Young. “The median price for most regions hit bottom during the first half of the year, and the statewide median home price now is nearly $60,000 higher than its lowest point in the current cycle”.
 

 http://www.car.org/newsstand/newsreleases/novsalesandprice/

May you all have a happy and blessed New Year!!

12/7/09:

We’re having a snow day up here on our little island in the sky, with 1-2ft expected by tomorrow morning, so it’s a good day to stay warm inside and crunch some numbers.   Here are the sales figures, along with avg. sales price & $/sqft for single family homes in the areas of Big Bear that we track.   We didn’t have the large number of lakefronts selling last month like we did in Oct., so the avg. $/sqft has gone back down in the Big Bear Lake area, but it looks like we’re finally starting to see prices turn around in Big Bear City and Sugarloaf as well.

Area      _____   Total Sales  __   #Sales  ___   Avg.Sale          ____ Total sqft    __     Avg. $/sqft

BBC             4,033,800         22           $183,354               27,360               $147.43BBL             5,960,200        16            $372,515               34,800                $171.27

FOX             3,447,500             8            $430,938               19,965               $172.68

MOON        5,469,900          20            $273,495               30,001               $182.32

SUGA         1,557,350         11            $141,577               10,167               $153.18

FAWN             940,250             3           $313,417                 4,442               $211.67

12/4:

It’s time for the monthly lists of “sold” and “pending” (in escrow) properties for the Big Bear area.   It was another great month and the resorts opened earlier than I can ever remember.   They started making snow in Oct. and got helped last weekend when we got about a foot of the “real stuff”.   Even though Nov. was a short business month, we still had triple-digit sales (104 properties) and even more (154) in escrow.   There doesn’t seem to be any signs of slowing the momentum and; as I’ve mentioned before, this doesn’t even include short sale properties which are awaiting bank approval!

I’ll get around to crunching the numbers for avg. sales price and $/sqft soon (if the rumor that we could get up to 5ft of snow next week turns out to be true – I should have plenty of time), but here is the raw data for now,

Sold:   XPROP – Multi Row View
 

Pending:   XPROP – Multi Row View

11/18/09:

Greetings from beautiful Big Bear, where they’re busy making snow and the slopes are open!     Below, please find the Nov. Market Conditions Report from Chicago Title.   As you can see, the “market speed” (sales conversion) continues to increase and both the inventory and “months supply” have gone done even further.

For those of you that I don’t talk to before then, have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving!
 

http://statsforagents.com/docs/471/MCR_Big-Bear_November-2009.pdf

11/10/09:
 

I finally had a little time to crunch the numbers for the Oct. sales stats.   As you can see, there were large increases in avg. sales price in BBC, BBL, and MOON.   There were also  increases in avg. $/sqft in  BBC, BBL, FAWN, SUGA, & FOX.

Area                               # Sales                Avg. Sales Price       Avg. $/sqft

Big Bear City               21                           $204,456                   $142.38
Big Bear Lake             21                         $575,148                   $307.57
Fox Farm                             6                             $369,167                     $231.72
Moonridge                       22                           $272,873                     $176.38
Sugarloaf                             9                            $105,000                     $132.30
Fawnskin                             2                            $184,500                     $243.72

I also broke out Big Bear Lakefront properties to look at separately because there were so many in Oct. (more than all of summer 2008 combined!).   There were large increases in both the avg. sales price and avg. $/sqft:
Lakefront                             5                         $1,492,000                   $510.96

11/9/2009:

We’re finally back in town and I wanted to get out the monthly lists of “sold” and “in escrow” properties for October.   I haven’t had time to crunch the numbers for avg. sales price and $/sqft yet, but here are the raw lists for now, along with list and sold prices (for those that have closed escrow).   There was another huge (15%) month-over-month increase in the number of properties sold (including the 5 lakefronts that were in escrow last month).   The market seems to be picking up even more speed and with the early opening of the ski resorts (they started making snow 2 weeks ago!), it promises to be a very busy winter!
 
Sold:     XPROP – Multi Row View

Pending:   XPROP – Multi Row View

10/28/09:

From OC Register: Big Bear Lake in Top 10 Statewide for Annual Price Gains!
 

Largest Calif. home price gains in 3 O.C. cities

October 27th, 2009, 2:00 am   · posted by Marilyn Kalfus, real estate reporter

Three  cities in the state’s Top 10 for median home price gains in  September are in Orange County, the California Association of Realtors reports. It was the 7th month in a row that median prices went up in California.

In Orange County:

• The overall median price in  September was $496,790 down 0.5% from August  and down 0.2% from September, 2008.
• Sales were up 9.4% from  September  2008, and up 0.7%   from August.
• The county’s unsold inventory was at  5.8 months in September, compared with 6 months in August and  7.6   months in  September 2008.
• Time that O.C. homes spent on the market: 35.4 days in September, compared with  33.7 days in August and 43.5 days in September a year ago.

Newport Beach was among the Top 10 cities in the state for median home prices in September, at $1,050,000.

Statewide:

• Home sales increased  2.1% in September  compared with the same period a year ago.
• The median price of an existing, single-family detached home in  September was $296,090, a   7.3% decrease from the $319,310 median for  September 2008, but up 1.1% from August’s $292,960.
• The state’s unsold inventory in  September was at   4.2 months, compared to 6.5 months last September.
• Thirty-year fixed-mortgage interest rates averaged 5.06% in September, compared with 6.04% in  September, 2008, according to Freddie Mac. Adjustable-mortgage interest rates averaged 4.59%  in September, compared with 5.14% in  September a year ago.

“The market’s momentum continued in September, as many home buyers took advantage of the federal tax credit for first-time home buyers,” C.A.R. President James Liptak said. “The success of the federal tax credit is clear. Nearly 70 percent of first-time home buyers report that the tax credit was ‘the most important’ or a ‘very important’ factor in their decision to buy a home.”

C.A.R. is calling for the U.S. Senate to adopt the Dodd-Lieberman-Isakson amendment extending the federal tax credit through June 30, 2010, and making the  credit available to all home buyers, not just first-time buyers. The amendment also would  change income limits so more families can qualify for  the credit.

C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie-Appleton-Young said:

“A new milestone was reached in September, when five C.A.R. regions reported positive year-to-year increases in the median price, the first such increase since January 2008. September also marked the seventh consecutive month of month-to-month increases in the statewide median price and the first single-digit decline in the year-to-year median price since October 2007, after 22 consecutive months of double-digit decreases.”

10/23/09:

Sept. Home Sales in West Surge 13% – Inventory at 2-1/2 year low!!

http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2009/10/rebound_shows

10/16/09:

Below  is the Chicago Title Market Conditions Report for Oct.   As you can see, the current inventory of sinlge family residences has gone down quite a bit from the month before (almost 10%).   Therefore, the months supply has decreased and the market speed continues to increase.
 

As always, if anyone wants copies of  past reports, rental histories, or any additional info, please let us know:  

http://statsforagents.com/docs/425/MCR-Big%20Bear-October%202009.pdf

10/7/09:

Here are the Sept. sales numbers, along with sales stats, including $/sqft, which I calculated directly from the MLS.   There was another month-over-month increase in avg. sales price for Big Bear Lake, along with increases in $/sqft for both Moonridge and Fox Farm.   I’ve also included Big Bear Lakefront info for this summer vs. last summer.   As you can see, there were 7 that sold this summer vs. only 4 last summer.   Although the avg. sales price was lower this year, the avg. $/sq.ft was approximately 11% higher!   In addition, there are currently 5 more lakefront propertes in escrow, with list prices ranging from $1.28M to $2.495M.

There are also links at the bottom for the properties that sold or went into escrow during the month of Sept.   As you can see, there were a total of 94 sold (ANOTHER month-over-month increase) and 185 in escrow, for a total of 279 properties!   Remember –  this doesn’t even include short sales which are awaiting bank approval or contingency offers.   As you can see from the “List Prices” and “Sold Prices”, most homes are selling within 5-10% of asking price, with bank-owneds commonly selling for well above the asking price due to mulitple offers.

Area                                    #Sales         Avg. Sales Price         Avg. $/sqft

Big Bear City                    26                   $145,039                           $122.98

Big Bear Lake                   11                   $468,145                           $187.18  

Moonridge                             17                   $256,341                           $201.67

Fox Farm                                     7                   $478,357                           $203.54

Sugarloaf                                 16                 $126,806                           $125.09

Fawnskin                                   2                     $291,500                         $185.55

                                         Total                 Avg. Sale                      Avg. $/Sqft

Lakefront             4         $1,343,750                       426.32         (summer 2008)

                                        7         $1,148,392                           471.45       (summer 2009)    

Sold Properties: XPROP – Multi Row View

Pending Properties: XPROP – Multi Row View

10/2/09:

Home Sales Soar:

The western United States is up 16% from July and 22.3% from last year!

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/economy/pending-home-sales-soar-august/
 
 

9/29/09:

 As a supplement to the S&P/Case-Shiller Price Index for July which was released today and showed median housing prices have risen in the 20 major metropolitan areas covered by the index for the third straight month, the link below contains August housing sales and price information for CA.   Although still lower than last year, median home prices in CA rose for the 6th straight month in August!   In addition, the unsold inventory index has fallen approx. 40% to only 4.3 months:

http://www.car.org/newsstand/newsreleases/augustsalesandprice/
 
 

9/16/09:

August SFR  sales numbers calculated from the Big Bear MLS:

Area                                  # sold      Avg. Sales Price             Avg. $/sqft

Big Bear City            20                      $159,000                      $137.46

Big Bear Lake        15                      $362,917                      $212.58

Moonridge                  10                      $299,645                      $196.40

Fox Farm                            6                      $636,333                    $202.48

Sugarloaf                      14                      $109,746                    $128.57

Fawnskin                           2                      $325,000                      $252.33