Happy Friday! Thanks for checking out Friday Figures. All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Here’s what you and your Realtor should know before touring, making an offer, or listing a home in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend.

Summary: Available listings dropped again, although not as much as in previous weeks. The number of vacant listings has dropped notably over the last 12 weeks — a side effect of working through bank-owned inventory (all of which were vacant). Declines in distressed listings continue. Pending sales keep rising, now totalling over 12,500. Median sales prices are starting to stabilize. Mortgage interest rates took a jump this week, so buyers and potential buyers should be sure to consult their mortgage professionals.

Available listings for sale:  There are 11299 available single family homes, 3527 condominiums and townhomes. Current median list price dropped slightly to $167,250, and median time on market is up to 111 days. Vacant units accounted for 8016 listings or 54% (1759 were tenant occupied). Twelve weeks ago, it was 15852 available single family homes, 4542 condominiums and townhomes, with a vacancy rate of 62%.

Distressed Properties: Of those listings, 6053 are noted as short sales and 3309 are bank-owned.  Median price for a short sale is down slightly at $139,000; Median price on bank-owned is very minimally down at $114,888. Non-distressed properties for sale had a median price of $339,000 — a notable rise from last week, probably caused by pending sales of lower-priced non-distressed properties. Just 12 weeks ago we had 6863 short sales  and 6867 bank-owned listings. That’s right: in 12 weeks we’ve cut the number of bank-owned listings by half.

Contingent and Pending listings: Properties in the process of being purchased are 10369 single family homes, 2143 condos and townhomes. Median asking price of contingent houses is unchanged at $149,000; median asking price of contingent condos/townhomes is down to $70,900. The accepted price is confidential until the sale closes. Twelve weeks ago we had only 6795 single family homes and 1253 condos/townhomes pending. That’s a rise of 55%. Of current pending sales, 4784 are short sales and 6393 are bank owned.  That does leave 1298 traditional, non-distressed sales.

Single Family Home Prices: Of available listings, 250 under $50,000; 1712 between $50,000-$100,000; 4605 between $100,000-$200,000; 3192 between $200,000-$500,000; 951 between $500,000-$1,000,000; and 758 over $1,000,000. Sub-$100k inventory is rising while most other inventory falls. Median price on an available single family home is unchanged for a third week at $179,900; median price per square foot is $94. Twelve weeks ago we had 288 under $50,000; 2085 between $50,000-$100,000; 6857 between $100,000-$200,000; 4828 between $200,000-$500,000; 1167 between $500,000-$1,000,000; and 798 over $1,000,000.

Condo and Townhome Prices: 422 under $50,000; 1197 between $50,000-$100,000; 1026 between $100,000-$200,000; 553 between $200,000-$500,000; 248 between $500,000-$1,000,000; and 148 over $1,000,000. Median asking price on these units dropped slightly to $115,000; median price per square foot is up to $100. Twelve weeks ago it was 431 under $50,000; 1601 between $50,000-$100,000; 1357 between $100,000-$200,000; 759 between $200,000-$500,000; 286 between $500,000-$1,000,000; and 167 over $1,000,000.

Recently sold: 709 properties have closed in the last week — the last week of the month, not bad when Memorial Day is taken into account. It’s worth pointing out that 541 of those 709 were bank owned. 3926 have closed in the last 30 days and 16147 have closed since the first of the year. Of the properties closed in the last week, 93 properties were on the market less than a week; only 54 were on the market more than 6 months (7 were on the market more than a year, one was on the market for 2 years); median dropped again to 42 days (median time on market including the contingent period also dropped to 108 days). Median sales price dropped to $128,000 and median list price also dropped to $128,000.  Twelve weeks ago, median time on market was 53 days, median sales price was $125,000 and median list price was $149,000. While median list is down, median sales price is up. There is evidence of price stability.

Rentals: 4650 homes, townhomes, and condos were available for rent in the Valley according to the MLS system — down from last week. Only 875 are willing to consider anything less than a 1 year lease. There are 597 contingent leases and 1741 leases signed in the last 30 days. Twelve weeks ago it was 4742 available rentals.

Other information: I should probably be more concerned than I am about the record number of mortgage defaults and foreclosures announced yesterday morning. First, this is a national number which may or may not change our local market. Second, I wonder how many of these defaults are borrowers who were until recently doing everything they could to stay in good standing, but have come to the conclusion that the only way to get their mortgage company to deal with them was to stop paying. You also need to know that mortgage interest rates are on their way back up from historic lows. This looks like an excellent time to lock in a rate. Mortgages may also get easier to obtain now that the mortgage backed securities market is starting to find a new “normal” condition.

For more information or help with your real estate needs, click the “Contact Me!” link in the sidebar or call the number at the top of the page. Friday Figures is published by Bridget Magnus on BridgetMagnus.com and is her property, even though any GLVAR Realtor can access this data.

The nice people at Calculated Risk have done a nice job of putting together everything that’s wrong here in Vegas.

Meanwhile, Bigger Pockets points out that although our sales are way up, our real estate market is dominated by bank owned properties and short sales. In his words, “pity the retail seller“! It is still very difficult for Joe and Jane Average to sell a Vegas home right now.  Not impossible, just difficult.

This problem isn’t unique to Vegas, either. Very few people are selling homes and “moving up” unless it is an absolute necessity (job transfer, etc). A lot of current buyers are first time buyers — who don’t need to sell a home before buying another one. I am still seeing a lot of investor activity, but it’s mostly small investors hoping to get in on the same great deals as everyone else. The experienced “fix and flip” people are out there;  some homes they have purchased and renovated appear in the MLS. However, most of the investors that call me are looking for something cheap, in good condition now, and rentable.

Nationwide, it is true that home sales are up. Inventory is up too, as private sellers start to think a sale is possible, underwater homeowners come to the conclusion that a short sale is better than being foreclosed upon, and banks release more inventory for sale. If you believe in the “phantom inventory” theory, you should expect to see Vegas inventory of bank-owned homes jump from current levels at least 20% (another 1000 REO listings) by the end of the first week of July (June is the end of the accounting period for most businesses including banks). Some people see no sign of a bottom soon.

While I wouldn’t dream of speculating about the national housing picture, I do see good signs locally. Our local economy is not terrific, but we still do have toruism and other industries. Since the supply of bank-owned houses is finally shrinking, there is a chance to move through some of the other inventory. I do think we are putting in a bottom in prices (except on severely distressed homes that need a great deal of work), although that process may take a few months. I am concerned that the fever I see to “get the best deal” may be a mini-bubble.  It is clear that we won’t be able to say we have a full recovery until the pool of buyers is more balanced: we need experienced buyers who are upgrading or downsizing or relocating; we need investors both to rehabilitate severely distressed homes and to increase our rental inventory; Realtors need to proatively educate potential first time buyers about how to become homeowners and what to expect along the way.

Thank you for taking the time to check the Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. It’s all the important details about the Las Vegas real estate market, and what you should know before touring, making an offer, or listing a home this weekend.

Summary:  Inventory continues to drop, with just over 15,000 total units available. In particular the number of bank owned properties available continues to plummet — not that long ago about a third of available homes were bank owned, and now it’s just over one in 5. Inventory is dropping in almost every price range. Pending sales are dropping slightly as the properties are sold. More properties have sold since the first of the year than are currently available, and the year is not yet half over. Desirable properties are moving fast and getting multiple offers. Both median list price of available homes, and median sales/list prices of sold homes is up. Recovery is happening. 

Available listings for sale:  There are 11553 available single family homes, 3641 condominiums and townhomes. Current median list price rose again to $$169,000, and median time on market is up slightly to 110 days. 

Distressed Properties: Of those listings, 6157 are noted as short sales and 3438 are bank-owned.  Median price for a short sale is unchanged at $139,900; Median price on bank-owned is slightly down at $114,900. Non-distressed properties for sale had a median price of $330,000.

Contingent and Pending listings:  Properties in the process of being purchased are 10261 single family homes, 2083 condos and townhomes. Median asking price of contingent houses is slightly down at $149,000; median asking price of contingent condos/townhomes is down to $72,000. The accepted price is confidential until the sale closes.

Single Family Home Prices: Of available listings, 242 under $50,000; 1697 between $50,000-$100,000; 4739 between $100,000-$200,000; 3320 between $200,000-$500,000; 967 between $500,000-$1,000,000; and 754 over $1,000,000. Only sub-$50,000 inventory is up. Median price on an available single family home is unchanged at $179,900; median price per square foot is $94.

Condo and Townhome Prices: 437 under $50,000; 1238 between $50,000-$100,000; 1035 between $100,000-$200,000; 600 between $200,000-$500,000; 256 between $500,000-$1,000,000; and 150 over $1,000,000. Median asking price on these units is up at $115,500; median price per square foot is up to  $100. 

Recently sold: 850 properties have closed in the last week, as asset managers push to get bank-owned properties off the book before the coming short work week. 4080 have closed in the last 30 days and 15335 have closed since the first of the year. Of the properties closed in the last week, 92 properties were on the market less than a week; 62 were on the market more than 6 months; median dropped to 39 days (median time on market including the contingent period was also down to 120 days). Median sales price rose to $130,000 and median list price jumped to $130,250. These numbers are almost insignificantly close. While some properties sold slightly below list price, others sold for above list price.

Rentals: 4720 homes, townhomes, and condos were available for rent in the Valley according to the MLS system. There are 603 contingent leases and 1790 leases signed in the last 30 days. 

Other information: Here’s an interesting item on median home prices. I use them because they are a lot closer to what’s really happening than simple average prices. There is pressure to have a uniform way of handling short sales, including time guidelines. If that comes to pass, it will greatly streamline the current process, and hopefully get those properties sold!

Buying, selling, curious with questions? Please click the “Contact Me!” link in the sidebar or call the number at the top of the page. Friday Figures is published by Bridget Magnus on BridgetMagnus.com and is her property, even though any GLVAR Realtor can access this data.

Most Realtor’s websites are dominated by two things: “Look how wonderful Suzy or Jack Realtor is”; and property search. This site is different. I would rather show you that I know what I am doing than toot my own horn. And the search link takes you to my brokerage’s site. Why? First, because I see no reason to waste money (that I could use to market my listings) and time (that I could use to help clients) — just to compete with Realtor.com. The other reasons are below. 

There are a lot of ways to search for real estate online. Almost any brokerage website has a search function right on the front. Most of that information comes from their local MLS (Multiple Listing Service), filtered for public use. That same information is also available through Realtor.com, Zillow, and a bunch of other real estate websites. Some of these sites are easier to use than others, but all share some similar problems.

It’s hard — if not impossible — to search for very specific things: Most real estate searches fall short once you get beyond how many bedrooms and other very broad criteria. Maybe you know exactly which school you want your kids to attend. Maybe you’ve read about how complicated short sales are and want nothing to do with them. Maybe you’re an investor, so a property with a tenant in place is preferable. On the other hand, maybe you are planning on moving in yourself, so tenant occupied won’t work. Even something as simple as “single story vs. two floors” can be hard to do on many sites. Sometimes, the price ranges offered in the site’s “picker” are so wide as to be useless — making things difficult if you already have your pre-approval letter and know to the penny how much you can spend. Why is this? So you’ll call your Realtor!

Availability is an issue:  Many search sites make no distinction between homes that are actually available and those that have pending purchase contracts. That increases the number of possible listings you’ll see on any given search. On a regular basis, I have clients who send me lists of homes they are interested in seeing — only to be told they aren’t actually available. This is a frustrating situation for both the client and myself. The client first thinks I am an idiot for not presenting these “perfect” listings, then they feel duped when they find out the home isn’t available. Why is this? So people will call the listing office, and be told “Oh, I’m sorry that one isn’t available anymore, but may I run a custom search of similar homes for you?”

Over 80% of buyers use the internet to start their home search. Many sellers also use online resources to help figure out what their home is worth before calling a listing agent for a Competitive Market Analysis (CMA). However, the tools available to Realtors gives a whole lot more information than is available to the public at any website.

The truth is that real estate search sites aren’t really about helping you find a home. They’re about increasing your interest in real estate and getting you to talk to a real estate professional.

That’s why I can say without fear of being contradicted that I can save any home buyer time when searching for a home — and “time is money.” I can also save sellers time (and ensure they get all the money they can) by finding truly similar homes for market analysis. Feel free to search online. But when you are serious about finding instead of just searching, call the number at the top of the page or click the “Contact Me!” link in the sidebar.

It’s time for Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Here is what you and your Realtor should know before touring, making an offer, or listing a home this weekend.

Summary:  Available houses fell below 12,000 for the first time since 2006 as bargain hunters snap up the best deals (assuming they didn’t bid it up in the process). Fewer than 16,000 total units are available! Inventory of both short sale and bank owned homes is down, and inventory in almost all price ranges is down. As would be expected, pending sales continue to rise, now topping out over 12,000. Median prices on available and contingent homes is stable or rising slightly. As for recently sold homes, we don’t have a second week of rising prices. What we do have is a situation where median sales price is greater than median list price, evidence of multiple offers and bidding wars.

Available listings for sale:  There are only 11954 available single family homes, 3762 condominiums and townhomes. Current median list price rose to $166,217, and median time on market is 109 days. Of those, 8755 are vacant (well over half), 5195 are owner occupied, and 1766 are tenant occupied.

Distressed Properties: Of those listings, 6271 are noted as short sales and 3778 are bank-owned.  Median price for a short sale is down slightly to $139,900; Median price on bank-owned is only slightly up at $115,500. Non-distressed properties for sale had a median price of $334,490.

Contingent and Pending listings:  Properties in the process of being purchased are 10066 single family homes, 2020 condos and townhomes. Median asking price of contingent houses remains stable a third week at $149,900; median asking price of contingent condos/townhomes is up slightly at $74,500. The accepted price is confidential until the sale closes.

Single Family Home Prices: Of available listings, 233 under $50,000; 1735 between $50,000-$100,000; 4965 between $100,000-$200,000; 3456 between $200,000-$500,000; 972 between $500,000-$1,000,000; and 757 over $1,000,000. Every category save million dollar plus has reduced inventory. Median price on an available single family home rose to to $179,900; median price per square foot is up at $94.

Condo and Townhome Prices: 479 under $50,000; 1283 between $50,000-$100,000; 1058 between $100,000-$200,000; 600 between $200,000-$500,000; 259 between $500,000-$1,000,000; and 150 over $1,000,000. Median asking price on these units is upat $114,900; median price per square foot is unchanged at $98. 

Recently sold: Another 670 properties have closed in the last week. 3925 have closed in the last 30 days and 14321 have closed since the first of the year. Of the properties closed in the last week, 85 properties were on the market less than a week; 66 were on the market more than 6 months; median was 46 days (median time on market including the contingent period was 123 days). Median sales dropped to $127,000 and median list price dropped to $126,990. Even though these numbers are down over last week, the important thing is that median actual sales price was above median list price.

Rentals: 4767 homes, townhomes, and condos were available for rent in the Valley according to the MLS system. There are 567 contingent leases and 1733 leases signed in the last 30 days. 

Other information: Someone else’s take on the idea that the first time home buyer’s tax credit can be used towards a down-payment; Update — the idea of using the first time buyer tax credit as a downpayment has officially been killed; remember, other programs are available, so be sure to ask your mortgage professional!

To find your home, to help sell your home, or just to learn more please click the “Contact Me!” link in the sidebar.  You can also call the number at the top of the page. Friday Figures is published by Bridget Magnus on BridgetMagnus.com and is her property, even though any GLVAR Realtor can access this data.

By now I think we all know that foreclosures are up, which is driving prices down, which is encouraging buyers to get out there and buy “bargain” homes while they can — sales are up in 17 states, including Nevada. 

One huge group of buyers is the first time buyer. They see that they can now often buy a house for what it had cost them to rent. They see that interest rates are low. They don’t have to get out from a house that’s worth less than what’s owed on it to take advantage of the current market. They see that $8000 first time buyer tax credit. 

There’s exciting news about that credit now: it looks as though it can actually be applied directly to the downpayment. This is brand new, not yet finalized, and details of the program aren’t available yet. No word on what paperwork has to be filed with whom, nor how long it will take to get the downpayment into the escrow account. This means buyers get the benefit now instead of next April. Remember, you’ve got to buy by November to take advantage of this.

Obviously, first time buyers are not experienced in buying a house. They can get caught up in scams. They don’t know what is normal in a real estate transaction. They don’t know what needs to be done to protect their interests. They don’t necessarily know what to look for when evaluating properties. That’s where a Realtor comes in. But with so many people calling about these homes, how does the Realtor know you are serious, and not just looking? How do you make her excited to work with you?

Here’s how to set yourself apart. Before you ever call a real estate office, talk to your bank about a mortgage pre-approval letter. This does three things. First, you will know exactly how much you can afford — or let you know you can’t really afford anything yet. What’s the point of wasting a weekend looking at homes it will turn out you can’t buy? Second, if you do find that dream house, you will need that pre-approval letter to show the sellers that you are serious, “ready willing and able” buyer. Third, it lets the Realtor know that you are organized enough to have thought about the fact that you need a mortgage to buy a house. Have that letter in front of you when you call the real estate office for the first time, and let her know what it says.

If you can’t talk to your bank, or think better deals can be had elsewhere, there’s still a way to impress your Realtor that you mean business: ask your Realtor up front who she recommends to get you that pre-approval letter. She has worked with a number of mortgage brokers, and can probably give you a short list of reliable people she trusts to get the job done. This will tell her that not only do you understand what it takes to buy a house, but that you trust her judgement.

I am available to help a limited number of first time buyers. If you seriously want to buy a home, I want to help you do it! I will save you time by asking serious questions about what you need and what you want in a home before we ever start looking at listings. I’ll tell you what the real estate market is doing and advise what to do about it with no nonsense. To find out more, call the number at the top of this page, or click the “Contact Me!” link in the sidebar.

Welcome to Friday Figures! This is real data from the GLVAR MLS system. Know what’s really going on before touring, making an offer, or listing a home this weekend.

Summary:  Available inventory continues to drop both year over year and week over week. Buyers continue to snap up perceived bargains in distressed properties, and our pending sales continue to rise. The listing price of contingent properties is stable, although the actual sales prices are not yet known. Over half of recently closed properties spent less than 6 weeks available. There is beginning to be evidence of rising prices on recently closed homes! This is a very exciting change in our market, which home owners and sellers should welcome. It should also be a warning to “on the fence” buyers that the low prices will not last forever.

Available listings for sale:  There are only 12400 available single family homes, 3857 condominiums and townhomes. A year ago (5/5/2008), we had 16575 houses and 4624 condos/townhomes!  Current median list price is $165,000, and median time on market is 108 days.

Distressed Properties: Of those listings, 6397 are noted as short sales and 4127 are bank-owned.  Median price for a short sale is $140,000; Median price on bank-owned is only $115,000. The 5661 non-distressed properties for sale had a median price of $334,900.

Contingent and Pending listings:  Properties in the process of being purchased are 9685 single family homes, 1893 condos and townhomes. Median asking price of contingent houses is unchanged for a second week at $149,900; median asking price of contingent condos/townhomes is unchanged at $74,000. The accepted price is confidential until the sale closes.

Single Family Home Prices: Of available listings, 249 under $50,000; 1820 between $50,000-$100,000; 5201 between $100,000-$200,000; 3565 between $200,000-$500,000; 987 between $500,000-$1,000,000; and 750 over $1,000,000 (last year there were 1151 — even the million dollar plus market has perked up). Median price on an available single family home has dropped in the last week to $178,000; median price per square foot is unchanged at $93.

Condo and Townhome Prices: 489 under $50,000; 1333 between $50,000-$100,000; 1079 between $100,000-$200,000; 608 between $200,000-$500,000; 261 between $500,000-$1,000,000; and 149 over $1,000,000 (down 11%).  Median asking price on these units is unchanged at $114,000; median price per square foot is $98. 

Recently sold: With the month-end crush over, 688 properties have closed in the last week. 3921 have closed in the last 30 days and 13590 have closed since the first of the year. Of the properties closed in the last week, 85 properties were on the market less than a week; 66 were on the market more than 6 months; median was 39 days (median time on market including the contingent period was 109 days). Median sales rose to $131,000 and median list price rose to $134,450. Yes, we have one week of rising prices. Notice that list and sales price are still very close to one another.

Rentals: 4753 homes, townhomes, and condos were available for rent in the Valley according to the MLS system. There are 526 contingent leases and 1723 leases signed in the last 30 days. 

Other information: Here’s a little bit of fun, 25 random things about Las Vegas; an economist compares Bernanke’s comments on housing to reality (the way he sees it, of course); Forbes on multi-generation households; Fannie Mae continues to lose (taxpayer) money; and the end of the historic Moulin Rouge casino.

To find your home, to help sell your home, or just to learn more please click the “Contact Me!” link in the sidebar.  You can also call the number at the top of the page. Friday Figures is published by Bridget Magnus on BridgetMagnus.com and is her property, even though any GLVAR Realtor can access this data.

Regular readers know that I have a problem with those who say that the banks are sitting on thousands of homes in almost any given market — maybe tens of thousands and totalling 700,000 across the nation!– waiting for prices to improve so they take less of a loss. These houses are the so-called “Phantom Inventory.” The “facts” these experts cite are a comparison of actual foreclosures to the number of these homes that show up as REO (“Real Estate Owned“) in the local Multiple Listing Service later. Needless to say, if this is true, any possibly recovery in the housing market will be instantly crushed as all the bank asset managers decide to start unloading this inventory! 

There are a lot of innocent reasons that a bank may delay listing a home for several weeks or months: clearing the title so they can legally sell it; cleaning and repairing so it will sell for the best possible price; in some states they may have to hold it for a “redemption period” during which the foreclosed homeowner can buy it back, if he can come up with everything owed. That could delay listing for a year, depending on the state!

Further, the bank may decline to take title in the first place. 

And now the latest wrinkle. Banks are setting the auction price low, and someone other than the bank may be buying the properties at the foreclosure auction! This is not to be confused with the big real estate auctions you may see advertised; it’s the “on the courthouse steps” auction that officially takes ownership from the foreclosed homeowner. Here’s more on the problem, from somebody who saw it firsthand and then did some research: 

Only a few of the trustee sales attracted bidders, and the rest were deeded back to the bank.  Out of the 92 active sales, 25 had opening bids below the amount owed to the bank.

Why would a bank or lender set their opening bid below the amount owed?

Banks and lenders have duties to their shareholders and investors to maximize profits and minimize losses (well, at least they use to.) If opening bids are set LOWER than what’s owed, perhaps the banks have already tallied their losses, realized that if they had to take back the house, get it cleaned out and cleaned up for resale, pay a real estate agent their commission to sell it, pay for title, escrow, excise tax, utilities, and any other carrying costs,  they might as well sell it at a discount at auction.

[snip!]

My theory is that banks are relying on third party information such as a mini appraisal or Broker Price Opinion (BPO) prior to auction.  If the BPO suggests that the outstanding principal balance is so high and out of range as to likely attract no bidders at auction, then the banks have nothing to lose by setting the opening bid closer to or significantly lower than the principal balance owed.  If no one bids at auction, they’re still only out the money they would have been out anyways and on the upside, if the low opening bid attracts investors, then perhaps the bidding will rise closer to the payoff.

If these properties are bought by somebody other than the bank, they will never show up as REO in the MLS system. Even if they are purchased by investors intending to “fix and flip.” They are never actually “bank owned”! How common is this? The observer reported 27% of the properties she saw auctioned — no way of knowing if that is unusual. It’s common enough that I located one such home a few blocks from me just a few days before reading this article. It’s not on the market yet, but it’s being fixed up and will be available soon.

Don’t get the idea that lots of bargains are available this way. Frankly, the foreclosure auction is a risky way to buy real estate, and should really be left to professional investors who have systems in place to determine condition, value, and the status of secondary liens. However, most of these investors will be selling or renting it in just a few months. These homes will have the “cheap” advantage of having been a foreclosure, but already fixed up, and with most of the advantages of dealing with a private owner (fast response, no long bank addendums that take away your rights, full disclosures).

The thing to remember is that while you can learn a lot from the figures, the real trick is seeing how the figures apply to what is really happening.

It’s time for Friday Figures! All information here is from the GLVAR MLS system. Know what’s really going on before touring, making an offer, or listing a home this weekend.

Available listings for sale:  We’ve actually dropped below 13,000 available houses! We’ve also dropped below 4,000 available condos and townhomes! There are 12898 available single family homes, 3957 condominiums and townhomes. The first Friday of last month there were 15852 available single family homes, 4542 condominiums and townhomes.

Distressed Properties: Of those listings, 6523 are noted as short sales and 4502 are bank-owned. Both numbers are lower, and the bank owned number is remarkably low, considering how many foreclosures we have. Last month it was 6863 short sales and 6867 bank-owned. You can see that the majority of the inventory that went away was bank-owned.

Contingent and Pending listings: Properties in the process of being purchased are 9194 single family homes, 1785 condos and townhomes. Gains from last week are not huge, but the gains over last month are notable: 6795 single family homes, 1253 condos and townhomes. Median asking price of contingent houses is unchanged at $149,900; median asking price of contingent condos/townhomes is only $74,000 (a small drop from last week). The accepted price is confidential until the sale closes. Based on what I am seeing, many of the homes below median price will sell for greater than asking price.

Single Family Home Prices: Of available listings, 241 under $50,000; 1901 between $50,000-$100,000; 5477 between $100,000-$200,000; 3708 between $200,000-$500,000; 986 between $500,000-$1,000,000; and 755 over $1,000,000. The first Friday of last month, the figures were 288 under $50,000; 2085 between $50,000-$100,000; 6857 between $100,000-$200,000; 4828 between $200,000-$500,000; 1167 between $500,000-$1,000,000; and 798 over $1,000,000. Median price on an available single family home has dropped in the last week to $176,366; median price per square foot is unchanged at $93; median time on market for currently available homes has dropped by one to 106 days.

Condo and Townhome Prices: 482 under $50,000 (back under 500, still up month-over-month); 1384 between $50,000-$100,000; 1106 between $100,000-$200,000; 631 between $200,000-$500,000; 269 between $500,000-$1,000,000; and 157 over $1,000,000.  Median asking price on these units is up somewhat to $114,000 — the first real evidence of possible price increases; median price per square foot is $98; median days on market is 111 days. Last month we had 431 under $50,000; 1601 between $50,000-$100,000; 1357 between $100,000-$200,000; 759 between $200,000-$500,000; 286 between $500,000-$1,000,000; and 167 over $1,000,000.

Recently sold: Closings continue to rise, as 1144 properties have closed in the last week. This coming week may also have an elevated number of closings just due to quirks of the calendar. 3751 have closed in the last 30 days and 12727 have closed since the first of the year — almost the number of available listings today. The first Friday of last month, there were 774 properties that had closed in the previous week, 2907 in the last 30 days. Of the properties closed in the last week, 140 properties were on the market less than a week; 7 were on the market over a year; 94 were on the market more than 6 months (7 for over a year); median dropped again to 38 days (median time on market including the contingent period was 118 days). Last month median time on market was 53 days. Notice the huge gap in time on market between available homes and sold homes? Well priced or otherwise desirable homes are moving fast and everything else is not. Dropping time on market and the number of homes on the market less than a week tend to indicate increased buyer interest, but that interest was a couple of months ago. 150 properties sold for $50,000 or less, 21 sold for more than $500,000. Whether something sold for higher or lower than list price depended on area and condition. Median sales dropped again to $125,000 and median list price dropped to $129,900 as well.  Last month median sales price was $125,000 while median list price was $149,000.

Rentals: 4761 homes, townhomes, and condos were available for rent in the Valley according to the MLS system, while last month there were 4742. There are 534 contingent leases and 1716 leases signed in the last 30 days.

Other information: Case-Shiller data for February came out this week, and lots of people had lots of things to say about it (prices dropped, we know); the financial whizzes over at TheStreet.com have noticed our “sizzling” foreclosure market, but somehow not noticed our dwindling supply; we may yet get high speed rail to LA, but through a private venture; Top Chef masters series has begun filming, and at least one commentator thinks it’s a long term good thing for our economy; Steve Wynn has been a very busy guy in the media this week; some builders are actively competing with foreclosures (please remember, the nice person at the builder’s office works for them, not you!). And on a sad note, our condolences to the family of Danny Gans, may he rest in peace.

To find your home, to help sell your home, or just to learn more please click the “Contact Me!” link in the sidebar.  You can also call the number at the top of the page. Friday Figures is published by Bridget Magnus on BridgetMagnus.com and is her property, even though any GLVAR Realtor can access this data.