A ‘Great Time To Be A Buyer’ In Carson City
The North Lake Tahoe Bonanza has a rare look at that Nevada housing bubble. “More of Carson City’s high-end homes are hitting the market this year. Now that the housing frenzy has slowed considerably, buyers have time to check out all their options. Last year, four homes priced more than $1 million sold in Carson City; two months into the new year, nine are on the market.”
“‘We’ve already got more (high-end homes) on the market this year than last,’ said (agent) Bob Fredlund. ‘In February last year we probably only had 60 houses on the market. Now I’ve got 335 so far this year.’”
“Only 65-70 homes were on the MLS in September 2004. A year later, 430 Carson City homes were on the market. (Realtor) Kathy Tatro said these numbers show the end of a three-year seller’s market. From 2001-03, buyers flooded the Carson City market. Many came from California pocketing a large cash out from a West Coast home.”
“A small inventory and plenty of buyers led to bidding wars. Prices went up drastically. The story is a little different in the dawn of 2006. This week, there are 48 homes on the market priced above $600,000. About 287 are under the $600,000 mark, according to the MLS.”
“‘Some say that the real estate bubble has popped, but what I think is that this is a real positive thing for our economy,’ Tatro said. ‘Prices are leveling right now. There are more sellers and probably less buyers. But these buyers can take their time looking for what they really want.’”
“It’s a great time to be a buyer, she said. Many of the components that had driven up the market before are not in play now. Californians are getting frustrated with Nevada’s rising costs and are heading farther east, such as Boise.”
“Fredlund said these high-end Carson City homes will sell to young professionals working in Carson City or Reno. ‘We’ve got a lot of doctors and lawyers looking for homes,’ he said.”
No, it’s actually a very poor time to be a buyer. A great time might be in 5-6 years.
i’ve never been there. i wonder if it’s nice.
Carson City is a small town, despite being the state capitol of Nevada. If you like small towns, it’s not too bad. Some nice new houses have been built in the Sierra foothills outside of town.
Here are the tourist ‘attractions’:
1. Low-end nickle casinos
2. Major mobile home manufacturing center
3. Several brothels
It’s very close to Tahoe and several ski resorts–there are some very nice subdivisions on the outskirts of town.
Don’t forget the Carson City mint!
I had the worst breakfast I’ve ever had in my life at The Ormsby House Hotel in Carson City.
It sucks!!
My inlaws built just south of there, absolute desolation for miles.
You can’t have small pets because the critter in the desert will eat them.
Up against the mountains is nice, but grossly expensive.
My fater in law kept talking about sagebrush ad naseum when he move there, as if it is beautiful. Sagebrush is just a dead fuckin bush!!!!!!
…..But these buyers can take their time looking for what they really want.’”
Hell, yeah, we will.
“It’s a great time to be a buyer, she said. Many of the components that had driven up the market before are not in play now. Californians are getting frustrated with Nevada’s rising costs and are heading farther east, such as Boise.”
“Fredlund said these high-end Carson City homes will sell to young professionals working in Carson City or Reno. ‘We’ve got a lot of doctors and lawyers looking for homes,’ he said.”
If the doctors and lawyers care about their money at all, they will know that even the “high-end” houses are over-priced. They should still wait it out..unless they are desperate to move. And if that’s the case, then they get what they deserve.
BayQT~
“It’s a great time to be a buyer, she said…”
Is it? It’s an even better time to be a renter living on a small percentage of one’s income. You don’t switch from a “sellers market” to a “buyers market” that quickly, unless you’re a realtor of course.
IMHO, we’re just hitting a turning point in the hottest markets, the downside potential is huge. Patience will be handsomely rewarded.
last thing you want to do is buy now. in a falling market - no way.
this is a horrible time to buy. you got to be an idiot to buy now. the bad news are just coming in. the longer you wait the better.
we’re only in pre-game warmups. the bears and bulls are out taking bee-pee. the cars are entering the parking lot and the fans have just begun to fill the seats. grab a dog and a coke and enjoy the game.
We moved to Carson City last year from Reno. Carson City SUKCS.. there are NO JOBS in carson. All the Govt jobs are underpaid… All the new homes are poorly planned. We saw some priced around 600k. I would not pay 500K for those 650K homes… They SUCK…There are MUCH BETTER homes in RENO for 100K less than Carson. IF YOU BUY IN CARSON YOU WILL DEFINITELY HAVE A HARD TIME SELLING IT IF YOU EVER HAVE TO MOVE OUT… I JUST WOULD NOT RECOMMEND. DONT BELIEVE THE LIES OF REALTORS AND THE MEDIA..
Do not believe the lies…. its NEVER A GOOD TIME TO BUIN IN CARSON CITY.. ALL THE NEW 600+k HOMES THERE ARE POOR LAYOUTS.. BETTER BUY A BETTER HOUSE IN RENO FOR 100k LESS… THERE ARE NO JOBS IN CARSON
To cereal
its in the middle of nowhere,nothing,dessert.
Been to carson city several times and it is ok. Basically high desert in the rain shadow of the sierras. It gets pretty cold in the winter for sure. Lots of sagebrush and rabbitbrush. It has been a place for californians to go for sometime but it has got pretty pricey there for sure. Would not live there at current prices.
Thats where they filmed Bonaza.
Yeah, I think the old hosue they had in the show was over in tahoe somewhere.
I wouldn’t buy in Carson City at those prices. It should be a heck of a lot cheaper. It is known for being the capital of NV, and low end casinos. I took a bus tour there about 8 yrs ago. Nothing special about CC itself. It is close to the mountains, and they are nice.
Need to leave:
Aren’t you over in new mexico now. How do you like it out there?
ben, phoenix metro just broke 35k for the first time. ziprealty has it at 35114
*sound of cork popping at cereal’s computer*
confounded champagne bubbles on the keyboard….grrrrrr……….
Why do these articles keep mentioning Boise as some low priced promised land as an alternative to the other bubbles? Boise is already becoming a bubble. Are the bubbles going to keep moving until the last one pops in some deserted place in Nebraska?
It’s a great time to buy? That must be part of the realtor talking points these days… I just received this:
“Are you serious about wanting to purchase a new home? Waiting may be a huge mistake! I wanted to point out that NOW is really the time to purchase a home, if you wait much longer there is a great chance that you are going to be looking at interest rates that are going to move most buyers completely out of the market. Interest rates have been on a steady climb and more and more buyers are getting back into the market now before they are forced out. Home prices are showing no signs of coming down. There is still some negotiation to be made on current listings but all indicators point to the current market value maintaining.
Talk it over and if you decide that you are ready to make the move to
homeownership, then please contact your lender and get your loan in place and give me a call and we will make it happen. I hope to hear from you soon.”
This is really just fear mongering…
Where is this magical place where the rates “have been on a steady climb?” They’ve hovered around 6% forever. And the nonsense about prices not showing any signs of coming down is complete BS, too. Who sent that trash to you?
Realtor from ziprealty sent me this. This is the first time she sends such an aggressive message.
If most buyers are forced out of market, it will become a sellers’ market: A market full of sellers! (no buyers)
i went to HS in carson….i couldn’t wait to escape that hellhole once i graduated… Carson City (CC) has 4 main groups of people. Hispanic gangbangers, white trash/wanna be cowboys/wanna be gangsters, American-Indian gangbangers, and retirees. DO NOT LET YOUR CHILDREN GROW UP IN CC!!!!
“mother don’t let your sons grow up to be hispanic gangbangers”
yeah, it just doesn’t have the same ring
“From 2001-03, buyers flooded the Carson City market. Many came from California pocketing a large cash out from a West Coast home.””
Gained it in California only to eventually lose it in Nevada. Same thing usually happens to casino winnings, they end up going right back to the casino.
OK, so you found me. Yeah, Terry is right….Carson Sucks! The most poorly planned city on the planet. I live in the South end of the valley in Gardnerville, which is much nicer. Still, this place is doomed. The only thing that this valley has going for it in the way of decent paying jobs has been due to the bubble. Take that away and you can’t make *#@! here! Everyone that could swing a hammer has become a contractor, the wife’s a realtor, the sister is a loan officer, and the daughter works for the local title company (but working on getting her real estate license), and their telling all the family and friends “over the hill” in Cal to mov on over because this is the promised land. Sorry, it’s still just little ‘ol Carson Valley. Just over crowded now. This place had no business growing like it did over the last couple of years. It’s gonna be bad, bad, bad…….
Do you have any stats on Incline Village, Lake Tahoe? I sold a house there 6/04 and was wondering what the bubble was doing over there. Kind of your neck of the woods.
No hard stats on Incline, but I know inventory pilling up and absolutly nothing is moving up there. Up there they’re in that “sticky ” phase, with no one willing to budge yet. Down here we’ve already seen a 5% - 10% hit, but no one sees it yet. Most still don’t have a clue.
“Why do these articles keep mentioning Boise as some low priced promised land as an alternative to the other bubbles? Boise is already becoming a bubble”
LOL. I read an article a few months ago about RE speculators buying SFR rentals in Boise. They didn’t even go there. Just shopped online, used a local agent to buy and a local property manager to rent the place and maintain it. People from places like Los Angeles who were tapping their equity to put down, because “they aren’t making more land.” LOL
when we sold our home in th san fernando valley section of los angeles we looked at carson city and reno and were not impressed,reno was old and dirty and carson city was just the worst of urban sprawl all mini malls and gated subdivisions,it reminded us of the san fernando valley,the hell hole we were leaving…we settled on san luis obispo california…..beautiful,clean and no traffic….sky high real estae prices though…..but prices are dropping and inventory is growing….i cant wait untill spring,the inventory will be sky high,and no fundamentals to support a 600k median home price…..
out of…….i don’t see any reason why homes in sLo and 5 cities are greater than 300k or less. hang in there buddy. i’d sure love to join you but we’re stuck in LA for a few more years at least.
Waiting until spring is a good idea…spring of 2009.
I am a graduate of Carson City High School, so I had to make a comment on this.
Carson City is a nice small town, but nothing really special. There are many state government related jobs, but I can’t imagine that they pay enough to justify these inflated prices. It is clearly a spillover effect from California. The article mentions doctors and lawyers looking for homes, and I question just how many doctors and lawyers can there be? No more than 2 or 3 percent of the population. Wages outside of state government in Carson City are very low. No way current prices can be sustained by locals. Retirees might like Carson City, but the local economy is simply too small to have a real career. I got a engineering degree and got out of Carson City as fast as I could, and found that my pay increased a lot by getting out of town.
Bottom Line: Only out-of-towners would be so foolish to pay these prices. When California equity dries up, Carson City will follow. It will most likely be even more severe since there does not exist a strong local job market. Part of the reason to live in Carson City was that it was a cheaper alternative to California, but still near to Tahoe and skiing. Now, there’s just no reason to be there.
no jobs in slo county help keeps growth in check,but la and san fran transplants have kept the prices high all buying homes in anticipation of retirement because they are afraid to be priced out of the market when they are ready to retire up here.this keeps a great supply of luxury renatl homes at good prices…i love being a renter…….
I would recommend staying a renter in SLO for some time. I wouldn’t expect prices to be normal again by spring.
“We’ve got a lot of doctors and lawyers looking for homes,”
HAHAHAH,
Doctors, Lawyers and Flippers OH MY!!!!!!!
Doctors, Lawyers and Flippers OH MY!!!!!!!
OHHHHHHHHHHHH, If I only had a brain…..
Location X is different because:
(a) The immigrants will keep coming, and want to buy even if they have to have 2-3 families per SFR.
(b) The baby boomers will come here to retire.
(c) “We’ve got a lot of doctors and lawyers looking for homes”
(d) All of the above — after all, they’re not making any more land!
Seriously, what asshat would believe that some dingy bunghole of a one-horse town like Carson City is going to be a draw for doctors and lawyers?
maybe dr. sues
Today: Great time to buy.
Tomorrow: Greater time to buy.
2010: Greatest time to buy.
The above statement will be true for the rest of the decade.
“‘Some say that the real estate bubble has popped, but what I think is that this is a real positive thing for our economy,’ Tatro said.”
way to analyze the trade deficit, GDP and interest rates. Realt-whores have not clue. All they know is that they want to make money.