October's Big Bear real estate numbers showed further market consistency as all major price measures showed remarkable gains in a same month comparison.

Big Bear home sales were up 40% this October as compared to October 2019. The average sale price was up 42% and the average price per square foot was up 24% over last October's numbers.

Looking back over the entirety of 2020, the following charts are a great way to see what has transpired this year in Big Bear real estate.

(Keep in mind when viewing these graphs that these figures represent the months when properties closed escrow. Typically, the offer on a property comes 30 to 45 days prior to closing. For example, September's sales were likely a result of homebuyers who made their offers in late July and August. So the sales in September really represent the market demand from the months prior.)

 

You can clearly see how the number of Big Bear home sales plummeted in April and May during the lockdown months. Equally as clear is how sales spiked immediately after the lockdown ended. Although sales have tapered in October, this is likely due to the lack of home inventory currently on the market. (More on that below.)

 

big bear real estate average sale price

As expected, when buyer activity spiked post-lockdown, the strong buyer demand pushed prices significantly higher with the average sale price showing consistent 37% - 42% gains when compared to the average sale price of homes during the same months in 2019.

 

median sale price big bear homes

Median sale prices of Big Bear homes showed slightly lower but still significant gains on a same month comparison.

 

big bear homes price per square foot

The price per square foot measure also increased, peaking at a 25% increase this October when compared to October 2019.

Perhaps the most revealing number in the Big Bear Real Estate market today is the number of homes listed for sale, better known as home inventory. As of today, there are only 106 homes for sale in the Big Bear MLS. This time last year, there were 455 homes for sale. That's more than a 75% drop in listings!

In the real estate world, we often show the relationship between buyer demand and the number of homes listed by dividing those 2 numbers giving us a measure called "months of inventory". This is a theoretical number that projects how many months it would take to sell all the current homes on the market if the sales pace stayed the same and no new homes came on the market. The lower the months of inventory, the stronger the market is.

Take a look at the figure below showing a brief history of months of inventory.

months of inventory BIg Bear real estate

A normal market will have about 5 months of inventory. This graph shows our current months of inventory at .6, an astonishingly low number! 

Because buyer demand for Big Bear homes has remained so strong and because the inventory of homes for sale has been progressively diminishing, prices are likely to continue to appreciate moving forward. Additionally aided by a recovering stock market and historically low interest rates, it is likely the bull market in Big Bear real estate will continue charging forward through 2020 and perhaps well into 2021!

Paul Zamoyta - Info@Zamoyta.com - 909.557.8285