The Town's petition for chapter 9 bankruptcy protection recently seems to have been baked into everyone's thinking for months. There's been nary a blip in the real estate markets. Property listing inventories continue to be below last summer's levels--168 condos and just 63 homes--and sales remain strong.
Home sales in the first six months of the year were up nearly 39% to 43 transactions from 31 homes sold in the first half of 2011. The median price of a home sold eased to $650,000 in the first half of 2012 from a median of $680,000 for homes sold in the same time frame last year. The median price strengthened in the current year's second quarter to $675,500 indicating that values have remained virtually unchanged since last year. Condo sales in the first half were off 13% to 124 units from the 142 sold during the same period last year. The median sold price edged higher by 8%.
Short sales and REO's--bank owned properties--remain significant factors in Mammoth's single family and condominium markets. While making up just 6% of home listings and 11% of listed condos, REO's and short sales comprise nearly 50% of all sales. Never the less, I believe the stream of distressed properties is beginning to slow. This will help firm up values.
