Jul 09
10
Thank you for taking the time to read Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Here is what you and your Realtor should know about local market conditions before touring, making an offer, or listing a home in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend.
Summary: Not everything is doom and gloom in our real estate market, particularly when you look at the year-over-year figures. For example, we have just 12,924 properties available today, compared with 20,594 on July 7 of 2008! Available inventory continues to decline, but much more slowly than in weeks past. This is partly because there have been 961 new residential listings in the last 6 days in the Las Vegas Valley alone! That says good things about our ability to absorb new inventory. In fact, there are more properties in contingent or pending status than are actually available. We did however have fewer closings this last week, but I did warn not to expect another 1200+ closings. Sure, prices are down from last year, but all other signs are hopeful.
Available Listings: There are 9876 single family homes (down), with a median price of $179,900 (unchanged), $93 per square foot (down), with median time on market of 101 days. In addition, there are 3049 condominiums and townhomes (down), with a median price of $115,000 (up slightly), $99 per square foot (up), and median time on market of 118 days. Last year there were 16,017 houses and 4577 condos/townhomes available.
Distressed Properties: Of available listings, there are 5232 short sales and 2832 bank-owned properties. Both figures are down. Median price for a short sale is unchanged a second week at $135,000; median price on a bank-owned home is up slightly at $110,000. The 4823 non-distressed properties for sale had a median price of $349,000, unchanged yet another week. Last year there were 5865 short sale listings and 4739 bank owned listings. However, GLVAR has tightened up the rules regarding the reporting of these listings over the last year, so those figures may not be a complete count.
Single Family Home Prices: Of available listings, 246 under $50,000; 1534 between $50,000-$100,000; 3925 between $100,000-$200,000; 2785 between $200,000-$500,000; 851 between $500,000-$1,000,000; and 683 over $1,000,000.
Condo and Townhome Prices: 392 under $50,000; 1018 between $50,000-$100,000; 829 between $100,000-$200,000; 498 between $200,000-$5000,000; 218 between $500,000-$1,000,000; 143 over $1,000,000.
Contingent and Pending listings: Of the 13034 properties in the process of being purchased, 10634 are single family homes with median price of $145,000 (down), $78 per square foot, 69 days on market median (down sharply); 2401 are condominiums or townhomes with median price of $71,000 (down), $66 per square foot, 65 days days on market median (down sharply). Last year we only had 6940 pending listings. 5410 current pending/contingent listings are bank owned, 6308 are short sale, and 1282 are non-distressed.
Recently sold: Only 481 properties close in the last week — the lowest level in months –making it clear that last week’s extraordinarily high number was a spike rather than a trend (the two weeks still average to better than 800 per week). Of those, 82 properties were on the market less than a week; only 39 were on the market more than 6 months (7 over a year); median time on market dropped still further to 34 days (median time on market including the contingent period was also down at 101 days). Short sales accounted for 51 of them, there were 349 bank owned properties, and 81 non-distressed sales. Median sales price dropped from last week to $125,000 while median list price was up further to $129,900. 4377 have closed in the last 30 days and 22513 have closed since the first of the year. Last year, only 2306 had closed in the last 30 days and 11609 had closed year to date.
Rentals: 4924 homes, townhomes, and condos were available for rent in the Valley according to the MLS system. There are 531 contingent leases and 1818 leases signed in the last 30 days. Last year we had 3585 available and 1461 signed leases.
Other information: Some of the panic regarding the new appraisal rules is wearing off. While there are still clearly problems with the application, it is clear that the issues are being acknowledged and addressed. Be very sure to read over the HOA documents for your new home before closing, including all those boring financials! The last thing in the world you want is to end up with a bankrupt HOA. And finally, after panicking about future price drops a few months ago, Forbes says the housing market “bottoms out slowly.”
