Big Bear Market Stats
We’re halfway through 2009 so I figured it would be helpful to give you an update on the activity over the first two quarters of the year. I’ve broken down some data for the different areas of Big Bear and here’s what stands out in my opinion.
Big Bear Lake Sales- 19 out of 57 buyers paid cash so far this year in Big Bear Lake. This includes Lakefront Sales. 19 were Bank Owned (REO) properties. Average Days on Market was 139. Average Price per Square Foot was $241.14/ft. As of today, there are 208 homes for sale in the Big Bear Lake area with prices ranging from $59,000 to $4,775,000.
- Lakefront Sales– 8 out of 10 buyers paid cash so far this year along the lake. 2 sales were Bank Owned (REO) properties. Average Days on Market was 166. Average Price per Square Foot was $516.10/ft along the lake. Sales bordering the water have been selling within 5 percent of the asking price with an average sales price of $1,385,020. As of today, there are 34 homes currently listed on the Lake. The only statistic that skews the numbers is the fact that one buyer bought 3 out of the 10 properties….so the activity isn’t as strong as it looks. Prices currently range from $400,000 to $4,775,000 on Big Bear Lake.
Big Bear City Sales- 22 out of the 70 buyers paid cash so far in 2009 in this area. 39 sales were Bank Owned (REO) properties. Average Days on Market was 120. Average Price per Square Foot was $146.30/ft. Sales in this area have been selling within 5 percent of the asking price with an average sales price of $182,900. As of today, there are 179 homes for sale in the Big Bear City area. 62 out of the 70 sales were under $300,000 and nothing has sold over $400,000 so far this year in Big Bear City. Prices currently range from $74,999 to $1,799,000.
Baldwin Lake Sales– 4 out of the 8 buyers paid cash in 2009 in this area. 5 sales were Bank Owned (REO) properties. Average Days on Market was 226. Average Price per Square Foot was $116.44/ft in Baldwin Lake. Sales in this area have been selling within 14% of the asking price (more negotiable out here) with an average sales price of $135,912. As of today, there are 38 homes for sale in the Baldwin Lake area. The highest sale in this neighborhood so far this year was at $241,000. Prices currently range from $115,000 to $1,950,000.
Erwin Lake Sales– 4 out of the 23 buyers paid cash so far in 2009 in this area. 12 sales were Bank Owned (REO) properties. Average Days on Market was 114. Average Price per Square Foot was $142.29/ft. Sales in this area have been selling within 3% of the asking price with an average sales price of$259,752. There should be an asterisk on these numbers also. 18 of the 23 sales were below $250,000 but there are acreage parcels in the area as well which skew the numbers…3 sales were over $700,000. As of today, there are 86 homes for sale in the Erwin Lake area. Prices currently range from $83,049 to $2,799,000.
Fawnskin Sales– 2 out of the 10 buyers paid cash so far in 2009 in this area. 4 sales were Bank Owned (REO) properties. Average Days on Market was 214. Average Price per Square Foot was $220.82/ft. Sales in this area have been selling within 8% of the asking price with an average sales price of $411,570. The asterisk on this stat is a lakefront home that just closed escrow for $1,575,000…which skews the average sales price quite a bit. Everything else that has sold has been below $400,000. As of today, there are 33 homes for sale in the Fawnskin area. Prices currently range from $189,000 to $4,200,000.
Fox Farm Sales– 5 out of 17 buyers paid cash so far in 2009 in this area. 6 sales were Bank Owned (REO) properties. Average Days on Market was 198. Average Price per Square Foot was $193.31. Sales in this area have been selling within 6% of the asking rice with an average sales price of $459,338. As of today, there are 76 homes for sale in the Fox Farm area. Prices currently range from $199,000 to $6,600,000.
Lake Williams Sales– No cash sales so far in this area, but there’s only been 3 sales so far this year. 1 Bank owned (REO) sale. Average Days on Market was 93. Average Price per Square Foot was $117.81/ft in Lake Williams. With only 3 sales, the sales price to list price ratio doesn’t truly depict our market (100%). As of today, there are 7 homes for sale ranging from $164,900 to $650,000.
Moonridge Sales- 14 out of 54 buyers paid cash so far in 2009 in this area. 19 sales were Bank Owned (REO) properties. Average Days on Market was 154. Average Price per Square Foot was $202.61/ft in Moonridge. Sales in this area have been selling within 7 percent of the asking price with an average sales price of $314,870. As of today, there are 152 homes currently for sale in the Moonridge area. 51 out of the 54 sales were below $500,000. Prices currently range from $119,000 to $6,499,000.
Sugarloaf Sales- 16 out of 49 buyers paid cash so far in 2009 in this area. 27 sales were Bank Owned (REO) properties. Average Days on Market was 99. Average Price per Square Foot was $128.27/ft. Sales in this area have been selling within 5 percent of the asking price with an average sales price of $138,017. As of today, there are 105 homes for sale in the Sugarloaf area. One last stat that I thought was interesting for this area: 36 out of he 49 sales were under $200,000 in this area. Prices currently range from $40,000 to $395,000.
Whispering Forest Sales– 0 cash sales out of the 7 closed sales so far this year in Whispering Forest. Only 1 Bank Owned (REO) property. Average Days on Market was 117. Average Price per Square Foot was $167.32/ft. Sales in this area have been selling within 5 percent of the asking price with an average sales price of $256,450. As of today, there are 17 properties for sale in the Whispering Forest area with prices ranging from $189,900 to $499,900.
What can you Takeaway from All of This?
- The numbers vary from area to area…ie, The price per square foot on the lake is averaging $516/ft whereas property in Baldwin Lake averages $116/ft. Make sure you’re comparing apples to apples when looking at the data. Big Bear is very non-conforming and combines quite an eclectic choice of properties to choose from.
- Some areas have been affected more by distressed sales than others….ie, over 50% of the sales in Big Bear City, Baldwin Lake, Erwin Lake, and Sugarloaf in 2009 were bank owned sales. Knowing the statistics of each area will help you regardless of what side of the transaction you’re on (buying or selling).
- The sales price to list price ratio hasn’t changed too much over the past couple years. If it’s priced right, it will still sell within 5-7% of the asking price. If you’re looking to “steal a property” you might still have to pay close to asking price, but if it’s priced aggressively you shouldn’t mind paying close to asking price if you see the value in it.
If you have questions regarding any of these areas or if I can help you with your mountain home search contact me. I’m here to help.
Mike Wochner
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