LAKEPORT >> The Lake County Association of Realtors (LCAOR) reported that the median sales price of single-family residences for Lake County rose from $169,000 in 2014 to $208,500 for 2015, a 23.4 percent increase. The number of units selling in 2015 increased by 19.4 percent, rising from 732 units in 2014 to 874 units in 2015.
In 2006 the median sales price in Lake County peeked at $310,000 before falling to a low of $107,000 in 2011 during the great recession. Since 2011 the median sales price has increased in each of the subsequent years.
Distressed property sales accounted for 14.65 percent of the 2015 sales, down from 26.4 percent of the sales in 2014. While this number has been on the decrease over the last few years the percentage is still high when compared to the statewide median. In 2011 more than 72 percent of the single-family residential sales were considered distressed.
On a year-to-year basis financing of property sales remained relatively the same. In 2015 32.2 percent of the sales were financed with cash and in 2014 32.4 percent of the transactions were cash financed. Conventional loans were used in 36.2 percent of the 2015 deals and 35 percent of the 2014 deals. Federal Housing Administration loan financing dropped from 12.7 percent of the transactions in 2014 to 11.4 percent in 2015.
Land sales in the county had a total dollar sales volume of $18.5 million on 235 sales. This was up from 2014 land sales of $14.3 million and 221 sales. During the last 10 years the year that had the highest volume and number of sales was 2006 when $53.2 million was the dollar volume and 563 sales were recorded.
The dollar volume for reported commercial sales was $8.5 million, down from $11.8 million in 2014. The number of sales in 2015 was 23 compared to 21 sales in 2014. One sale was at the $1 million mark in 2015.
“2015 was an excellent year for Lake County real estate values,” said LCAOR President Erin Woodward. “Statewide inventories have been tight and housing affordability continues to be a concern. This normally bodes well for the Lake County market as buyers seek more affordable solutions.”
