Improvement in the Bay Area economy is causing a spike in Truckee-Tahoe vacation home sales, according to an article in www.mercurynews.com.

The Bay Area is typically 1-2 years ahead of the Tahoe real estate market. The increase in purchase of Tahoe vacation-homes is said to be attributed to the success of Silicon Valley tech companies, empowering buyers in the housing market.

Bay Area buyers brought Tahoe second home sales to their highest level since 2005, and currently about one third of Tahoe vacation-home buyers live in the Bay Area, according to the real estate company DataQuick. Purchases range from ski resort condos for families with young children to expensive lakefront estates purchased by multimillionaires. The number of sales increased 12.5 percent compared with the first half of 2012 in Homewood; 21 percent in Tahoma and 10 percent in Truckee.

“People are stepping up for $12 million to $19 million sales,” said Lexi Cerretti of Sierra Sotheby’s International Realty. “A custom homebuilder who lives in Los Altos recently bought a lakefront property for $5 million and plans to tear down the existing home and rebuild. He’s going to pump a lot of money into a nice new home there,” Cerretti said.

Median sales prices for all homes in Truckee-Tahoe rose by double digits in the first half of the year compared with last year, according to DataQuick. Median sales prices doubled in Stateline from $160,000 in the first half of last year to $329,000 in the first half of this year, and Tahoma gained a 57 percent price increase over the past six months, DataQuick said.

The average time it takes to sell a home in Truckee-Tahoe has decreased by a full month compared to last year, from 67 days to 37 days, according to Coldwell Banker.

Agents are starting to see more activity with multiple offers on homes, a good indication that the Truckee-Tahoe housing market has left the bottom.