Big Bear Home Sales
Big Bear home sales hit a two year high in July 2009.
Home sales rose 9% when compared to the June numbers (84 v. 77), and 35% when compared to June 2008 (84 v. 62). This is great news for the Big Bear real estate market as it is the second strong month for home sales. Even if prices are still a bit volatile, strong sales are always positive sign.
It is important to keep in mind that in a normal market, sales should be in the range of 150-200 per month. We are still a long ways from that.
29, or 34%, of the 84 home sales in Big Bear were bank owned. This is a just a touch higher than last month, but still well below the 50% mark we were seeing earlier in the year. 11 of the sales, or 13%, were short sales, which is twice as many as last month. Short sales should continue to make up a decent amount of sales in the coming months.
That means 44, or 53%, of the sales in July 2009 were “organic”, or traditional sellers – another strong month for them though it was down about 10% from June.
Big Bear Home Prices
Though the median price for July 2009 was higher than July 2008 ($227,000 vs. $205,000), it did drop from the June 2009 median ($227,000 vs. $265,000). This was the first month in the past 5 that we’ve seen the median price drop month over month.
The median sales price in July was $227,000, 14% lower than last month but a modest, 11% increase from June 2008. (See the chart below for the historical median prices).
With the limited amount of sales and wide variety of prices, it is still too difficult to make any concrete determinations about the real estate prices in Big Bear.
There is an $82,000 difference between the median asking price of $309,000 and the median selling price of $227,000.
The median asking price for bank owned & short sales properties in Big Bear is $199,000, $28,000 below the median selling price of all sales. More importantly, it is $110,000, or 36%, below the median asking price for “organic” sellers. It is no wonder that bank owned properties in Big Bear are seeing 2-6 offers within the first 1-2 weeks there are on the market while other sellers are lucky to get 2-6 showings, let alone offers, in the first couple months.
Homes Currently on the Market
The number of properties on the market for sale in Big Bear stands at a total of 909, down 16 from last month. This is becoming a very important stat. I hear all the time about how people think we have so many properties on the market and, in fact, we do not. Just a few years ago, there were 1300 to 1400 homes on the market. For the past 8 months, we’ve remained under 1000 homes for sale. Given that the summer months are when we typically build up the inventory, if the number remains under 1000, and sales continue to pick up, things will get better for Big Bear home sellers.
Big Bear Home Sales – Thru July 2009
| Month and Year | # Homes For Sale | Median Asking $ | # Homes Sold | Median Sales $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2009 | 909 | $309,000 | 84 | $227,500 |
| June 2009 | 927 | $310,000 | 77 | $265,000 |
| May 2009 | 902 | $316,000 | 56 | $235,000 |
| April 2009 | 894 | $300,000 | 61 | $205,000 |
| Mar 2009 | 893 | $299,950 | 54 | $179,500 |
| Feb 2009 | 889 | $309,000 | 57 | $217,000 |
| Jan 2009 | 902 | $319,000 | 47 | $220,000 |
| Dec 2008 | 956 | $320,905 | 41 | $262,000 |
| Nov 2008 | 1032 | $325,000 | 50 | $240,287 |
| Oct 2008 | 1078 | $329,000 | 73 | $255,000 |
| Sept 2008 | 1109 | $328,500 | 82 | $224,500 |
| Aug 2008 | 60 | $282,500 | ||
| July 2008 | 62 | $205,000 | ||
| June 2008 | 62 | $247,500 | ||
| May 2008 | 67 | $290,000 | ||
| April 2008 | 50 | $299,500 | ||
| Mar 2008 | 1082 | $339,950 | 49 | $288,000 |
| Feb 2008 | 1049 | $345,000 | 34 | $249,950 |
| Jan 2008 | 1094 | $339,900 | 30 | $283,250 |
| Dec 2007 | 55 | $273,750 | ||
| Nov 2007 | 66 | $282,500 | ||
| Oct 2007 | 53 | $310,000 | ||
| Sept 2007 | 60 | $269,750 | ||
| Aug 2007 | 81 | $310,000 | ||
| July 2007 | 70 | $293,450 |
Year To Date Comparison (1/1- 7/31)
| Year | # of Homes Sold | Median Sales Price | Average Sales Price | Days on Market | List Price to Sales Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 449 | $220,000 | $283,190 | 129 | 95% |
| 2008 | 356 | $260,000 | $342,470 | 130 | 95% |
| 2007 | 476 | $317,450 | $422,063 | 120 | 96% |
| 2006 | 663 | $315,000 | $392,281 | 74 | 97% |
| 2005 | 964 | $279,000 | $343,539 | 73 | 98% |
| 2004 | 1022 | $217,750 | $260,348 | 82 | 98% |
| 2003 | 849 | $180,000 | $219,565 | 52 | 98% |
Year to date, sales in 2009 are up 26% from the 2008 number, and only 6% from 2007 (gaining). But, prices are still down 15.4% & 17.4% respectively for the median & average sales prices. The rate of price drop appears to be lowering, stay tuned on that.
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* Note: The charts above will be updated on a monthly basis. It represents single family home sales in the Big Bear area, including Big Bear Lake, Big Bear City, Moonridge, Fox Farm, Sugarloaf, Erwin Lake, & Fawnskin. Data courtesy of the Big Bear MLS. These numbers do not include raw land or condos nor does it include homes in the Big Bear MLS that are located out of the Big Bear area.
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Big Bear Home Sales – June 2009 And Second Quarter 2009
As compared to last year, is the percentage of bank owned sales down or up?
Aloha,
Keahi
Hey Keahi,
It is up slightly, from 20% last year to mid 30% this year. It is down from earlier this year however. Either way, they should make up a large percentage throughout the year and into 2009.