The trend of more sales and lower prices in the Las Vegas housing market showed no signs of change last month.
The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors said 2,783 single-family homes were sold by a Realtor in September. That’s an increase of more than 9 percent from a month earlier and up 181 percent from September 2007.
Despite the increase in sales, prices are headed in the opposite direction.
The Realtor association said the median price of a single-family home last month was $195,000. That’s down 7 percent from a month earlier and down 32 percent from last September.
The Las Vegas area had 22,784 homes on the market last month, which is down about 6 percent from last year.
The trend also is evident in the condo and townhouse market.
Sales are up about 81 percent in the past year (386 sales last month), although the price has dropped to $119,450 — a fall of 32 percent since September 2007
“As home prices keep getting lower, sales keep going up. This month’s statistics show the greatest increase in year-over-year sales that we’ve seen in many years,” GLVAR President Patty Kelley said in a statement. “This tells us that qualified buyers are recognizing that now is a great time to buy a home, especially here in Southern Nevada.”
At last month’s sales pace, the Las Vegas area has an eight-month supply of homes on the market.
Credits: Las Vegas Sun
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New numbers released show a huge jump in the number of homes sold in Las Vegas. The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors says the number of homes sold jumped 181-percent in September, compared to the same time last year.
The association indicates that home sales were high due to lower selling prices.
The median price of a single-family home in Las Vegas went down from $210,000 in August to $195,000 in September.
Credits: Las Vegas Now
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Home prices in 20 major U.S. cities fell 0.9% in July and were down 16.3% in the past year, according to the Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday by Standard & Poor’s. In the smaller sample of 10 cities, prices fell 1.1% in July and 17.5% in the past year. Prices fell in 13 cities in July, led by a 2.8% drop in Las Vegas and a 2.7% decline in Phoenix. Prices have fallen in all 20 cities in the past year. “There are signs of a slowdown in the rate of decline across the metro areas, but no evidence of a bottom” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P.
Credits: Market Watch
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No metropolitan area has seen prices fall as much in the past year as in Las Vegas.
That’s the latest, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, which looks at 20 cities across the country.
Las Vegas recorded a 28.6 percent decline in the past year, according to most recent survey. That barely surpasses Miami, whose prices have fallen 28.3 percent in the past year. Phoenix prices have fallen 27.9 percent in the past year.
The U.S. index fell 15.4 percent.
In fourth, prices fell 25.3 percent in Los Angeles and 24.2 percent in San Diego.
The good news for Las Vegas is that the rate of decline has slowed. It dropped 1.6 percent from May to June, a figure that was less than the 2.6 percent drop in Phoenix, 1.8 percent in San Francisco and 1.7 percent in Miami.
In the April to May period, home prices had dropped 2.9 percent in Las Vegas. The rate of decline may be slowing, said David Blitzer, who heads the index committee at Standard & Poor’s. Prices had been falling 2.5 percent a month earlier in the year.
“While there is no national turnaround in residential real estate prices, it is possible that we are seeing some regions struggling to come back, which has resulted in some moderation in price declines,” Blitzer says.
None of that compares with Denver and Boston, which have seen three months of consecutive increases, he says.
Dennis Smith, president of Home Builders Research of Las Vegas, says he’s not surprised the index has slowed. New-home prices can’t fall any further, and the poor condition of some of the foreclosure properties is prompting more buyers to ignore them, Smith says.
Foreclosure properties in good condition are getting multiple offers.
“People are willing to pay a little more for a house in turnkey condition,” Smith says. “I hear it from brokers that they have gotten to the point they don’t even want to show some of the homes in bad shape because no one wants to buy them. How much more are people willing to pay? It can be $20,000 to $25,000 or $50,000, depending on the house.”
Smith says he sees prices falling for at least another six months. One reason is there are many homes whose adjustable rate mortgages are set to increase in October and that will force many homeowners to simply walk away, adding to the inventory, he says.
Woodside Homes has been forced into involuntary Chapter 11 reorganization proceedings after creditors say the builder owes them more than $700 million. The company is expected to file for protection by Sept. 16. It is continuing to build homes and operate in the interim.
Credits: In Business Las Vegas
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