Greetings Fellow Life Travelers:

Well, how did your New Year’s Eve go? We got snow blasted at Tahoe – quantity unexpected – that cancelled many plans including ours for a sit-down dinner for 10. We replayed it for New Year’s night, losing only 3, who had other plans, and had a great time topping it off with some Dom Perignon. Houseguests left the next day and, now that the house is back in order, I’m ready to rock-and-roll for 2023! Looks like we’re in for more snow for the next week or more, along with rain in other parts of the State – all good for much-needed water supply. Let’s see how the holiday and weather impacted real estate this week.

• Residential Real Estate – week 12/31 – 1/6
• Tahoe Sierra MLS – North/West Shores & Truckee. New Listings – 8; Escrows – 9; Solds – 12
• Incline Village/Crystal Bay MLS. New Listings – 3; Escrows – 2; Solds – 2
• East Shore, NV MLS. New Listings – 1; Escrows – 1; Solds – 1
• Reno/Sparks MLS. New Listings – 101; Escrows – 86; Solds – 49

Not surprising that the first week of 2023 was slow. Monday holiday, with many leaving the area Tuesday, and snowy weather weren’t conducive for doing a lot of business! For a general recap of 2022 vs. 2021, dollar volume for Tahoe Sierra MLS was down 24%; Incline Village/Crystal Bay 45%; East Shore over 50% and Reno/Sparks – the winner at only 14% down. Median prices, however, in most places are on the positive side, a result of continuing low inventory and sustained value in the Tahoe Region.

• Local/Real Estate/Luxe
• On 1/5, Tahoe Fund announced that the Lake has risen almost a full foot, now above the natural rim!
• 2023 Home and Design Trends to Watch: Sustainable design, warm cozy spaces on the rise. Check this out! https://tinyurl.com/5n74ab9w
• Keoki Gallery Event: Saturday, Jan 14, 3 – 6PM. Book signing for Hans Burkhart’s new book – Above and Beyond: My life giving the world a lift. His relationship with Alex Cushing, his career at Squaw Valley/USA. Fascinating!
• Despite a broader slowdown, the luxury market notched 7 $100M+ deals in 2022, one less than in 2021. All were in California, New York and Florida. Wall Street Journal
• London’s ultra-prime housing market (homes priced over $17.5M) was up 30% over 2022 with 52 sales (40 in 2021). Mansion Global
• Fur ban. California is the first state to ban the sale, donation or production of new fur items within the state, effective Jan 1, 2023. This does not include used furs, so what’s in your closet is still good….if you dare to wear it, I guess! (Per Humane Society, CA and NY made up nearly 43% of all fur sales nationwide in 2017.)

Luxury Daily

• Manhattan New Development Sales surpassed $6B in 2022, nearly double pre-pandemic levels. (Ed: New full-service upscale resort and urban housing complexes fare well across the world. Chase International is representing the new Waldorf Astoria in Crystal Bay, breaking ground spring 2023. And The Tahoe City Lodge, also represented by Chase, already has double the number of reservations than units available.)  
• Tahoe Rim Trail has organized snowshoe and snow-camping events in winter and organized hikes in summer. www.tahoerimtrail.org
• Sugar Pine Point State Park has approximately a 2-mile snowshoe tour every Saturday and Sunday at 11AM for 2 hours. There’s a similar tour at Donner Memorial State Park until Mach 26. www.sierrastateparks.org

• Entertainment
• Path of the Sun: https://tinyurl.com/3c2hj9dx (Believe taken in Italy. Follow all the comments! Real/Not real?)

• TidBits (Indian Hills Signs)
• Without freedom of speech, we would not know who the idiots are.
• Electricians have to strip to make ends meet.
• Somebody’s therapist knows all about you.
• When you teach a wolf to meditate, he becomes aware wolf.
• My neighbor said he slipped on my gravel but it was his own dumb asphalt.
• Before the crowbar was invented, crows had to drink at home.
• A few puns make me numb, but math puns make me number.
• To the thief who took my anti-depressants, I hope you’re happy.
• When Algebra teachers retire, how do they deal with the aftermath?

Stock Market Term: Profit – An archaic word no longer in use. (Buy real estate!)

That’s it for the first week of the New Year! Don’t get caught up in the media hype about how awful the housing market is. We take our information from the pundits entrenched in our business, and the outlook is not bleak. Will keep you tuned in as I gather intel from upcoming global and national meetings. Have a great week! 

Best wishes, 

Trinkie