It's mid-month when I usually take a look at the inventory of Big Bear homes for sale. Unlike the last few years at this time, we have very few Big Bear homes listed for sale right now. Take a look...
Home inventory is a good indicator of a market's direction. Economics 101 taught us that supply and demand dictate pricing. Home inventory is the supply of homes, and right now, that supply is low. That means that buyers have few homes to choose from so there will be more competition in purchasing what homes are on the market.
The other side of the equation is demand. Take a look at a short history of first quarter sales of Big Bear homes...
You can see that demand has increased quite steadily over the past few years.
So with supply of Big Bear homes for sale decreasing while demand for Big Bear homes is increasing, basic economics suggests that prices should continue to go up. Of course, there are other external factors that affect the fate of the Big Bear real estate market, but the basics of supply and demand leave me justifiably optimistic for the foreseeable future.