Lake Tahoe real estate market cools down

Even in California, it’s rare to own a home worth more than $20 million. On the west side of Lake Tahoe — a large body of water that straddles the state’s border with Nevada — Dan Haas, 48, has two.

It’s not a situation he’d like to find himself in: One of his homes, sitting on 2.8 acres on the shores of the lake, has been up for sale for $21 million since July, after he bought a second – one of the few that would have justified his move, he says – for a similar price, in the spring.

He admits his timing was unfortunate. He bought a house when the market was hot, with the demand for beautiful rural homes at the time of the pandemic at its peak; he is now trying to sell one as the market, hit by rising mortgage rates, has cooled.

“Buyers just weren’t in town last summer. It gave me some anxiety, carrying two houses with two mortgages,” he says.

At least for Haas, those mortgage rates are relatively low. For those looking to buy a home there now, higher mortgage rates limit what they can afford. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose from 3.22% in January 2022 to 7.08% in early November – although by early March this year it had fallen to 6.65%.

As a result, home sales fell sharply. In the South Tahoe area, there were 70 single-family homes under contract in the three months to the end of January, up from 140 a year earlier, according to the local Realtors Association.

“Buyers are very aggressive and making lowball offers: they’re looking for offers right now,” says Sally Gardner of Tahoe Estates Group, a local real estate agent. “[But] vendors sit and wait to see what happens.

Many of the more expensive homes on the California side line the lake, either around the water in Tahoe or in Donner Lake, a small body of water northwest of Tahoe near Sugar Bowl, one of many local ski resorts.

Others are located at Martis Camp, the private 2,177-acre hillside community that connects to the Northstar resort via the Martis Camp Express chairlift, a short drive from the community. Currently, the community has 10 homes for sale, priced between $4.695 million and $21.995 million.

Sharp price increases since the pandemic mean many shoppers are anticipating price drops — and some are already securing them, according to Gardner. Among lakefront homes in the area, the most expensive home sale in the last three months of 2022 was $15 million, about $3 million less than its original list price.

Kevin Coughlin, 44, who works in private equity and lives in the Bay Area, about 150 miles southwest, bought his first Tahoe home in 2016. Last October, after being “casual” for a year, he bought a second, near Palisades Tahoe, which he is currently renovating.

“A year ago, homes were going above asking price and there were a lot of bidding wars,” he says. “Then I noticed a lot more homes coming on the market in the fall. In October we offered a little less to ask and got the house.

Having moved around a lot for work over the years, this is his fifth home purchase in California, he says. “This time I felt more strength as a buyer than ever before.”

In recent years, the family has visited more frequently, as their two children have become actively involved in local ski competitions. Like many owners of second homes in the region, they spent a long, uninterrupted period there after the start of the pandemic. When the renovations to their new home are complete, they will try to live there full time for a year before deciding what to do next.

“One hundred percent it was the pandemic that made us realize we could do it full time — even though we would need a bigger house,” Coughlin told me over the phone from a parking lot in Truckee. , a town in California, north-west of the lake, while his son competed nearby.

“We love the Bay Area, but here it didn’t feel like we were far from home, and spending this extended time made us feel more integrated into the community.”

Caitlin Kalinowski, a 42-year-old technician based in the Bay Area, also decided to buy after spending a long time at the start of the pandemic in a Tahoe rental house. “The pandemic changed the math for me and my partner: we slowed down. I’ve aged a bit. And here you really feel like your neighbors care about you,” she says.

Beginning his search in early 2021, his sights were on a $1 million lakefront home. But rapidly rising prices meant she had to revise her plan soon; by the end of the year, she had purchased a new three-bedroom, four-bathroom detached house in Truckee for $1.425 million.

Today, she spends about half her time there, with the rest at her Bay Area home and various labs and offices in Seattle, Portland, and area. “Now I have time to pursue my passion: skiing, motorcycling and being on the lake,” she says.

But the couple have no plans to give up their home or life in San Francisco, where they are active members of the LGBT+ community and the city’s tech and cultural scenes. “San Francisco is one of the most amazing cities in the world and we were thrilled to see it [recover from the pandemic era]. Both communities are important to us,” she says.

Haas, on the other hand, has few ties to Los Angeles. He has lived permanently in Tahoe for 10 years and relishes the peaceful seclusion and friendliness of the community.

“It’s my tribe,” he said. “That was the biggest selling point for me: if I didn’t have that, I would still be looking.” For his sale, he remains optimistic. Over the usually quiet winter, the two or three viewings a month — mostly tech-rich Bay Area super-rich, with a smattering of Los Angeles — he’s had are more than he’s expected. expected.

He can still find a buyer. Between October and December, three homes sold for more than $10 million in the expanded area; on the western shore of the lake, one fetched $41,259,400.

“And it only takes one,” he says.

What you can buy. ..

House, Tahoe Donner, $1.85 million

A four-bedroom, three-bathroom, 2,901 square foot mountain home built in 1986 and remodeled to include a marble kitchen and air conditioning with HEPA filters. The open-plan living room has a stone fireplace and tall windows. For sale at Sotheby’s International Realty.

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House, Gray’s Crossing, $2.875 million

A new contemporary construction of 300 m² of living space comprising four bedrooms, a walnut and stainless steel kitchen, underfloor heating, fireplaces and exposed beams. It overlooks Gray’s Crossing Golf Course designed by Peter Jacobsen. Thanks to the compass.

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House, Lahontan Golf Club, $6.199 million

A five bedroom, five bathroom home in the gated community of Lahontan Golf Club. The new 5,300 square foot home has double height ceilings with full length windows, multiple fireplaces, a media/games room, solar panels and multiple decks. Available through Compass.

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