Big Bear Real Estate Blog: Big Bear Sees Strong 3rd Quarter

By Mike Sannes, Big Bear Real Estate - The Mike Sannes Team, October 9, 2016

Thanks for checking in with us regarding the Big Bear real estate market. Let’s get right to it.

The 3rd quarter of 2016 is now in the books, so let’s take a look at the current "state of the market" as we prepare to slide into winter. There are currently 527 active residential listings on our Big Bear MLS and, as there are 197 homes currently in escrow, that equates to 4 months of inventory based on a typical 45 day closing.

My How Times Have Changed

The days of the ‘distressed market’ in Big Bear have passed: only 1.3% of our active inventory is either Foreclosure or Short Sale. Furthermore, only 2.6% of all closings so far in 2016 have been ‘distressed’ sales, i.e. foreclosures or short sales.

So far this year, through the end of September, Big Bear has seen a total of 840 closings. Of those, 27% have been cash deals. It is interesting to note that at the peak of the "investor market" here in Big Bear (2009-2011), cash sales made up over 35% of our market.

What is Selling and Where

Big Bear Real Estate - Sale by Price Range - Sept 2016Big Bear Real Estate - Sales by Area - Sept 2016The graphs to the right shed more light on both what is selling and where it is selling. It is interesting to note that, although sales in the $750k – $999k range are off 38.9% (18 in 2015 compared to 11 in 2016), sales in the 1 million+ market have increased 30.8% (13 in 2015 vs 17 in 2016).

The 3rd quarter of 2016 saw a 7.5% decline in the total number of sales (343 in 2015 vs. 319 in 2016). In contrast however, the average price of all homes sold in Big Bear has increased 8% ($287,571 in 2015 vs. $311,053 in 2016). It will be interesting to see if the 4th quarter of this year can hold onto these gains. We will continue to monitor the market and keep you posted.  Do let us know in the meantime if you have any questions on anything you see for sale or on your home's current value. We always look forward to hearing from you - contact us anytime!