If you're a foodie who like mountains & snow, and appreciates diversity ... Or someone who likes snowy winters with mountains, plus great restaurants close by, the New York Times says Incline Village, Nevada should be on your Top 10 places to live.

Those are the results of the NYT's new interactive "Where You Should Live" quiz.  Not totally on spot because most folks considering Incline Village are not also looking at upstate New York, Anchorage, or Connecticut, which are also recommended "best spots" if you start adding criteria like 'jobs' or 'health care' into mix.

Nonetheless, it's sort of a fun app if you're curious to see where the algorithm would have you move.

That said, if you are considering a move or a vacation home in Incline…

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A Seller's Market

In a real estate market that's rumored to be otherwise cooling, Tahoe Donner is bucking the trend.

The median sales price of a home in this community above Truckee rose for the first time ever to more than $1 million this year. And it's been inching up steadily.

By Sept 30 this year, 236 homes changed hands in Tahoe Donner, and well over half of them (58 percent) sold for more than $1 million.  That's a whopping 43 percent increase over last year's Q3 median price of $769,000.  And even more impressive when you consider that just two years ago the majority of homes (84 percent) fetched less than $1 million.

Luxury Homes Now the Majority of Tahoe Donner Sales

The scales have literally tipped, and thanks to the…

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As we move into Fall, I keep hearing one question from my clients: Is the real estate market cooling down yet?

On the heels of last year’s pandemic shutdowns, the value of Tahoe/Truckee real estate skyrocketed. The volume of sales tripled in some markets, and the median sales price rose for the first time ever to more than $1 million in most of our markets.

What goes up must come down. That’s what my clients keep telling me.

But that’s not what the data shows … at least not so far.

We are not seeing the sort of panic buying we did amid the Covid shutdowns last year. Anecdotally, there are definitely fewer buyers in town than we saw earlier this summer. Schools are back to live learning in many of our Bay Area feeder markets, parents are…

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The Town of Truckee has joined the list of regions around Lake Tahoe to put the brakes on Short Term Rentals (STRs), with a moratorium on new applications for STR permits that runs through June 15, 2022.

Amid complaints that short-term rentals are eroding the peace and character of Tahoe/Truckee's neighborhoods and depleting the supply of affordable workforce housing, the Town of Truckee joins Placer County and several other regions in an effort to slow the growth of STRs (rentals of 30 days or less).

No new Placer County rental permits till April 2022

The Placer County moratorium was approved during the summer of 2021, and extended by an August 31 Board of Supervisors decision till April 1, 2022.  It effectively halts new applications for…

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Pier on Lake Tahoe

A pier can add significantly to the value of a Tahoe Lakefront home, and that’s a number that’s likely to rise in the coming decade, as the odds of getting one become more and more slim. 

After decades of legal and regulatory wrangling, a new rule took effect in 2019 limiting the number of piers that can be built at the Lake. This summer, for example, only 4 lucky lakefront owners will win the right to construct their own pier.

Applications were rolling in to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) as this article went to print, but judging from past demand, we will likely see dozens of lakefront owners walk away disappointed this summer. (In 2019, 83 lakefront owners applied for the right to build a private pier, and only 5 were granted.)

…

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Lake Tahoe real estate is suddenly becoming a commodity available mostly to those who can afford to spend more than $1 million. Luxury sales tripled at the Lake in the first six months of this year, and the median sales price climbed to an unprecedented $1M, a 44 percent jump from the year before.

But most surprising is that for the first time ever, many areas of Lake Tahoe and Truckee saw more homes selling for over $1 million, than under. Last year at this time, for example, luxury sales represented just one-third of the overall sales at the Lake. And this year so far, homes priced over $1 million outpaced more affordable properties.

Lake Tahoe Real Estate

From January to June this year, 383 homes closed at Lake Tahoe for $1 million or more. That's more than…

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When is Price not Price?

Homebuyers searching in Tahoe this spring are facing the frustrating reality that price is not price.  On the contrary, the asking price of a home in today’s hot market is more like a starting point.

Once buyers get through the front door and have fallen in love with what they see, they often find themselves in competition with others who are swooning over the same property. In some cases, many others.

Tahoe Donner Real Estate

One 3-bedroom cabin in Tahoe Donner got 18 offers the first week it was on the market, and closed for cash at more than $100,000 over asking (plus a generous sum for the used furniture). It backed to open space, but it did not have a garage. And like many sales this year, it was priced more than $100,000 below where it…

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 Capacity Conundrum at The Club

Lahontan, the Granddaddy of Truckee's gated communities, briefly experimented with freezing its social memberships, and has since adopted a new policy to handle the Covid-era demand. By 2021, amid Covid shutdowns, a social club membership at just $8,450/year with a $10k initiation fee was looking like such a bargain that many Lahontan owners decided to jump on board. 

The social membership includes use of the pools, a beautiful fitness center overlooking the golf course, and dining in style at the Lodge with a beautiful outdoor patio .  With everyone working from home, and many destinations shuttered due to Covid, Lahontan was looking like the place to be for those who owned vacation homes -- or even just dirt --…

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Tahoe Donner Morning

High Demand for Tahoe Donner Homes Priced Over $1Million

Luxury home sales in Tahoe Donner tripled last year from what they had been just 15 years before.  Homes priced over $1 million -- long the minority in this community above Truckee -- sold at a faster pace in 2020, and for higher prices -- than ever before in the history of this resort destination.

More than a quarter of the homes that sold in Tahoe Donner last year closed for more than $1 million. That includes some homes, like this Pinnacle Loop chalet, that pushed into the luxury zone, despite being priced well below $1 million:

 

 

 

 

 

 

New home sales accounted for less than 10 percent of overall sales, but with just three exceptions, all sold for north of $1…

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