Here is a comparison of homes sold and homes currently for sale in 3 Nevada County communities:  Alta Sierra, Lake of the Pines, and Lake Wildwood.  This data is provided by the Nevada County Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service (MLS).  There are a few more homes sold and for sale in these areas than indicated in this report; some properties, especially bank-owned properties, are represented by out-of-area brokers who are not members of NCAOR and that data is not reported.  The only way to get a complete inventory of homes for sale is through the services of a competent realtor who has access to all of the different data banks. But, for purposes of comparison, the following report is quite satisfactory.

First, let’s look at all homes for sale, then we’ll look at homes in a particular price bracket, homes listed for less than $300,00.

Homes currently for sale at all price levels as of June 20, 2010:

Alta Sierra 105 homes for sale

Lake of the Pines 65 homes for sale

Lake Wildwood 109 homes for sale

Now let’s look at those homes under $300,000.  First, we can examine the homes actually sold between June 1, 2009 and June 1, 2010.

Alta Sierra                                        Lake of the Pines                            Lake Wildwood

92 homes sold                                    50 homes sold                                      74 homes sold

$138 per square foot                       $139 per square foot                         $133 per square foot

83 days on market average           81 days on market average            110 days on marker average

$229,000 average sale price       $220,000 average sale price         $216,000 average sale price

Finally, here are the homes currently for sale as of June 20, 2010 under $300,000

Alta Sierra                                        Lake of the Pines                            Lake Wildwood

51 homes for sale                             24 homes for sale                                53 homes for sale

$142 per square foot                       $149 per square foot                       $146 per square foot

122 days on market average        86 days on market average           118 days on market average

$248,000 asking price                  $234,000 asking price                    $234,000 asking price

From these side-by-side comparisons it seems that home value, as indicated by price per square foot, is virtually identical in all three communities.  The only difference of any significance is that there are fewer homes for sale at Lake of the Pines, not surprising, Lake of the Pines is the smallest of the three communities at 2000 homes, compared to Lake Wildwood, the next largest, with 2800+ homes.