This past decade, we've seen record highs in the real estate world as well as record declines and now a quicker than expected recovery. I have noticed that national real estate news has resulted in many people having skewed perceptions of where the Big Bear real estate market was at its height, how low values declined, and how much the market has recovered. Let's look at actual sales numbers from the Big Bear MLS to get get a sense of reality.
Looking at things from a quarterly perspective, the highest quarter for the average and median sale price of a Big Bear home was the first quarter of 2006. The real estate market peaked then with an average sale price of $407,000 and a median sale price of $324,000.
It was a little more than 5 years later in the third quarter of 2011 when the market finally bottomed out. At the market's lowest point, the average and median sale price of Big Bear homes was $194,000 and $146,000.
So from the market's peak in 2006 to the market's bottom in 2011, the average sale price dropped a whopping 52% and the median price declined an historic 55%.
Since the market bottomed out in 2011, we have seen average and median prices rebound to the $260,000 and $213,000 values seen in the second quarter of this year, 2013. This market comeback represents a 34% and 46% increase in the average and median home prices from their 2011 lows.
But it is important to keep in perspective how far down prices currently are from their peak. Although we have seen an impressive rebound, the average and median prices of Big Bear homes are still down 36% and 34% respectively. Even with the impressive recovery we've experienced, values are still down by over one-third of what they were at their 2006 peak.
Whether a buyer or seller, it is good to know the market's history. Buyer need to know there is still apprciation to be had and sellers need to realize that although the market is recovering, we are still about 35% off 2006 highs!