As Las Vegas Home Sales Climb, Are Prices Stabilizing?

Housing sales in Las Vegas continue to accelerate with almost 4,000 single family homes and condos sold in May. This was 60% more sales than in May of 2008. Inventory has decreased by 9% since a year earlier and stands at a 7 month supply. In 2008 the supply figure was stubbornly near 20 months for the entire year.

The majority of purchases continue to be bank owned properties. The median price was 40% lower than a year earlier, but down only 1.2% from April. I am still looking for that first median price increase to call a bottom in the LV housing market.

An interesting fact from this article: Over 10,000 listings entered into a contract in what I assume was the month of May. With 21,000 homes in the for-sale inventory, the city could see a rapid reduction in available homes in the next couple of months.

The danger to a housing recovery is the still large number of homes being foreclosed and how the banks will handle putting them on the market. It seems that many buyers see the market as a good time to buy.

Comments

[Mr. Ed, Jr.:]

I do not understand the reasoning behind investing in Las Vegas real estate at this time. It is highly unlikely that there will be any spark to start home prices to increase in the near future.


From The Las Vegas Sun.....

"Overall, the number of foreclosure filings rose 5.5 percent in May to 17,157 when compared with April. Filings are 83 percent higher than May 2008, which helped Nevada keep its No. 1 ranking in the nation that it has held for 2 1⁄2 years.

That means one in every 64 homes had a foreclosure filing in May, more than six times the national average, according to RealtyTrac. The second highest state was California with one filing for every 144 housing units. Florida was third, followed by Arizona and Utah.

The nation saw a 6 percent decline in foreclosures compared with April."

****
Now , the statistic that 1 in 64 homes got default notices is for the entire state.

! in 54 was the rate in Las Vegas.

1 in 54. In just the month of May. That is an astounding rate.

Unemployment in Las Vegas is high, except at the offices of bankruptcy lawyers.

There is little in the way of good news coming out of Las Vegas.

Jun 12 03:39 AM

[TCK:]

In my neighborhood in Summerlin there continues to be many empty house on the market. Most can be had for the low 100's. Three bedroom, 1500 sq. ft.

That is half of the price from 2 years ago.

Jun 12 08:42 AM