Well, here we are, a mere 42 days away from opening day at Northstar. Before we know it the lifts will be spinning, the Village will be bustling, and the mountain will be boasting several feet of fresh powder. What better way to pass the time until opening day then by reviewing Northstar real estate performance in Q3? The Third Quarter, despite starting out slow, quickly ramped up transactions as the quarter progressed with 2 in July, 4 in August, and 5 in September. Historically, the sales cycle begins with interested buyers make the trek to Truckee in the Winter to enjoy the copious mounts of fine powder, checking out some of the best mountain real estate in the country while they’re in town. These buyers return once more in the Summer to vacation and to also revisit the phenomenal properties that they toured that Winter. This culminates around Labor Day as offers flood in, as these buyers are now dead set on the properties that they want.
“Currently, sales are on pace to meet or
exceed total units sold from 2016”
Q3 2017 total sales finished at $13,826,000, down 37% compared to Q3 2016. Although Q3-’17 has fewer transactions then in Q3-’16, a general explanation for this would be due to a reduction in inventory, as premier properties such as Mountainside’s Stellar Townhomes were sold-out and traditional “go-to” neighborhoods in Vintage Northstar had minimal turnover. This in turn leaves consumers to consider alternative options, namely outside of Northstar at other area luxury developments. Median homes prices are $685K, down 7% from 2016, indicating that product sold wasn’t as high of a dollar value then in the previous year. Furthermore, Q3-’16 saw a substantial amount of inventory in Vintage Northstar, which resulted in 38% more units being sold in that area then in 2017.
Currently, sales are on pace to meet or exceed total units sold from 2016 ($89,221,473), especially with 6 properties in contract and some exceptional inventory rolling out, such as Mountainside’s Boulders development. With Northstar opening up a full week ahead of their normal schedule, visitors will be in the area much sooner to tour properties, resulting in potential offers before the New Year.
Northstar continues to show its value and a healthy turnover rate helps to keep unit prices steady. The low inventory, in relation to previous years, can be a testament owner satisfaction. With the approval of Northstar’s Master Plan earlier this year, additional value is indirectly added to Northstar properties as improvements to the mountain drive more visitors, which in turn brings more interested buyers for a seller to pick from. For these reasons and more, Northstar continues to be the leader in luxury real estate in the Truckee / Tahoe region. Here’s to a magnificent, snow filled Q4.
Visit our Q3 2017 landing page for market updates on all of our core communities.
