Sales of million-dollar Tahoe homes fall ... by half!!!

Sales of Lake Tahoe homes valued at $1 million or more during the first half of 2008 tumbled 47 percent from the same time last year, realty firm Chase International reported Monday.

Also falling were the home's big-ticket prices.

Across the Lake Tahoe region, average year-over-year home prices fell 24 percent the first half of this year, to $945,000, Chase said. Last year at the same the average was $1.2 million.

Good times continued, however, in the Truckee area. Sales of the most expensive homes there -- $1 million or higher -- climbed 26 percent over the same time last year, Chase said.

Along the Tahoe shoreline, homeowners sold 61 houses priced at $1 million or higher during the six-month period compared to 116 the same time last year. The drop was sharpest along the South Shore, where eight sales so far this year represented a 64 percent dip from last year.

Condos priced at $500,000 and higher also saw a 58 percent sales drop from the same time last year, Chase reported.

The firm attributed the steep drops to "very active high-end market at this time last year." It also noted that this year's second-quarter sales were up "considerably" from the first quarter.

Overall, the region's 313 sales from January to June were down 19 percent, from 385 during the same months of 2007.