MAMMOTH LAKES
MARKET TRENDS REPORT
November 1, 2023
www.MatthewLehmanRealEstate.com
Short Term Rental Moratorium: If you have not yet heard, the Town of Mammoth Lakes recently passed a 45-Day Moratorium on October 18th, 2023, on the issuance of new TOT Certificates. This applies to owners looking to rent their properties on a short-term basis within the RMF-2 zones of Mammoth Lakes. See if your property is zoned RMF-2. What does this mean?… if you own in this zone that makes up a substantial portion of the town, you cannot get a permit to rent your property while this moratorium is in place. Expect it to be extended!
This poorly vetted and seemingly capricious decision by the Mammoth Lakes Town Council displayed one of the worst examples of leadership I have seen in Mammoth in my many years. The Town Council chambers were filled primarily with residents opposing the agenda item; however, it was evident the Council was going to pass this matter regardless of community input. Town Council Members Sarah Rea, Chris Bubser, John Wentworth and Amanda Rice were councilmembers in favor of the ordinance.
The Town Council claims that the purpose of the 45- Day Moratorium is to further examine the benefits limiting short term rentals as a means of increasing housing for residents that have been priced out of the market. Nobody in the room disagreed that there is a dire need for workforce housing and that our community needs to do something to cure this issue. The problem with this ordinance is that it will not create housing for our local community, and it will strip our town of valuable resources only slowing our path to a real workforce housing solution.
What this ordinance will do is degrade the revenue stream that allows our town to build workforce housing and it will likely result in lower property taxes as the property values in the RMF-2 zones will likely suffer due to the loss of property rights. It will also rid our community of valuable time needed to get a viable solution in place for workforce housing. Here are a few take aways in my opinion:
- A moratorium will not provide housing for residents as most owners of RMF-2 properties are 2nd homeowners and use the properties for vacation purposes. If they can’t rent for the short term, they will just leave it vacant when they are not using it, as they have in the past, or they will rent illegally.
- Expect this moratorium to be extended (can be extended up to 1 year and 10.5 months) and could result in full ban.
- Moratorium will likely impact property values in RMF-2 zones. Which appears to be the true intent of the council, but they can’t say this. This will hurt 2nd homeowners and those workforce locals that own RMF-2.
- The council’s shortfall in funding to complete “The Parcel” housing project currently under construction will widen.
Single Family Homes
The median sales price for a single-family home as of November 1, 2023, was $1,297,000. This figure is based on 48 closed sales in Mammoth Lakes Year-to-Date. 48 sales put us on pace for a total of 57 sales for the year, compared to 83 total sales in 2022. Sales volume year-to-date has increased over the past month but is still on track to be below 2022 levels.
Single-Family Residential History Mammoth Lakes
The graph below is a representation of the median single-family home pricing taken from table above:
Median Home Sales Prices by Month for 2022 and 2023 YTD
As can be seen from the graph below, the median price of single-family homes is higher in Year-over-Year when compared to August 2022.
Below is a summary of available (active) home listings at the beginning of each respective month:
As seen in the graph above, the number of active home listings (inventory) has been increasing since December 2022. November showed a dramatic pullback in the total level of inventory, with a 38% decline in the total number of active listings in just one month.
Condominium Market
The Median price for a condominium in Mammoth Lakes as of November 1, 2023, was $768,750, which is 2% above the median price observed for all of 2022. This figure is slightly higher than the $755,000 year to date median price observed just last month.
The graph below is a representation of the condominium pricing table on the previous page:
Median sale prices for condominiums, by month, allows us to observe Buyer and Seller attitudes throughout the year. As of November 1, 2023, median home prices were higher than this time last year and higher than the previous month. There was a sharp increase in the November median sales price which was due to six sales of the new Creekhouse townhomes with prices ranging from $1.45MM to $2.25MM.
This year, the total number of active listings peaked in October with 62 active listings.
Vacant Residential Land Market
As of November 1, 2023, there were 16 land sales in Mammoth for the year. The median price per square foot for a lot in Mammoth was $40.
Below is a graph reflecting the table above:
Featured Listings
126 Lecht Court – BACKS TO U.S. FOREST SERVICE. Privacy, privacy, privacy. Lot has been surveyed. Amazing South Facing lot with a level topography and warm southern exposure. Walk out of your back yard onto vast open level Forest Service lands. Meadows, forest, and privacy make this lot more unique than anything else you will find in Mammoth. $450,000
267 Juniper Drive (Crowley Lake) – Looking for a gorgeous, turn-key home with room for expansion? Then this beauty is for you! This 2 bedroom plus loft home has an additional 750 sf unfinished space downstairs that’s large enough to add another guest bedroom, a bathroom, a massive closet, and more! .6 acres, 2 bedrooms + Loft, 2 bathrooms. $1,000,000
Summit #220: Here is a one bedroom, one bath condominium located in the Ansel Adams building of Summit Condominiums. Short walk to Eagle Lodge and Sierra Star Golf Course. This unit has a new kitchen and bathroom. Just reduced to $490,000.
Snowflower #25: Partially upgraded 2-bedroom townhome with a loft, and 3 bathrooms. Close to the bus stop, meadow, Mammoth Creek and the new Recreational Facility in Mammoth Creek Park. Just reduced to $890,000.
