Welcome to Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. This is what you need to know if you are touring, making offers, or listing property this weekend in the Las Vegas Valley.

Summary: Available units continue to edge down to 11014 — a far cry from the 20581 we had available in October of 2008. The truly optimistic thing is that both distressed and non-distressed units are down. It’s no surprise that pending and contingent listings are up, now over 15,000 — over twice last year’s levels. It is still of great concern that over half the pending/contingent sales are short sale: what percentage of them will close at all? At current close rates, it would take well over a year to close all the currently contingent short sales.

Other Information: I can’t honestly say I am shocked that the Nevada foreclosure mediation program has troubles. The Mortgage Banking Association says it’s slowing things down, while mediators claim mortgage companies are giving them the runaround. It’s more or less what I expected, since many of these same institutions lied and tried to cover up their involvement in the sub-prime crisis. Elsewhere, the nice people at Calculated Risk point out that supply has been artificially reduced by various foreclosure delays and modifications while supply is artificially high because of the first time buyer tax credit (and truth be told, amateur investors lured by low prices). Another complicating factor in the long term outlook is that wages are at an 18 year low in inflation adjusted dollars. One more thing: Tim Kuptz has been through the local September closings and found that indeed, “cash is king”; cash transactions accounted for 43.2% of sales.

Available Listings: There are 8796 single family homes (down), with a median price of $184,600 (up), $92 per square foot (unchanged), with median time on market of 82 days (up). In addition, there are 2218 condominiums and townhomes (down), with a median price of $99,000 (unchanged), $85 per square foot (down), and median time on market of 84 days (down). Last year there were 16124 single family homes and 4457 condos/townhomes.

Distressed Properties: Of available listings, there are 4671 short sales (down) and 2135 bank-owned properties (down). Median price for a short sale is $134,000 (down); median price on a bank-owned home is $119,900 (unchanged). Short sale listings, whether available or contingent, must be considered at risk of becoming bank owned properties. The 4179 non-distressed properties for sale (down) had a median price of $300,000, down. This is mostly because of investors who have already fixed up distressed properties and have now listed them as private sellers. Last year we had 6463 short sales and 5969 bank owned properties available.

Single Family Home Prices: Of available listings, 196 under $50,000; 1285 between $50,000-$100,000; 3531 between $100,000-$200,000; 2199 between $200,000-$400,000; 780 between $400,000-$700,000; 329 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 626 over $1,000,000.

Condo and Townhome Prices: Of available listings, 354 under $50,000; 846 between $50,000-$100,000; 641 between $100,000-$200,000; 265 between $200,000-$400,000; 83 between $400,000-$700,000; 38 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 45 over $1,000,000.

Contingent and Pending listings: Of the 15158 properties in the process of being purchased (up), 12220 are single family homes with median price of $139,900 (down), $76 per square foot (unchanged), 47 days on market median (down); 2937 are condominiums or townhomes with median price of $70,000 (unchanged), $64 per square foot (unchanged), 46 days days on market median (down). Final negotiated sales prices are confidential until closing. Of those, 8613 were short sale (up), 4941 were bank owned (unchanged), and 1573 were non-distressed sales (up). Last October we had only 7012 pending and contingent listings.

Recently sold: 702 properties closed in the last week, 4137 in the last 30 days, and 36139 so far this year. For properties closed in the last 30 days, median time on market was only 22 days (time on market including the contingent period was 87 days). Median sales price was $125,000; median list price was $124,000. Short sales accounted for 609 of them, there were 2748 bank owned properties, and 767 non-distressed sales. In October of last year, we only had 2775 sold in the prior 30 days.

Rentals: 5137 homes, townhomes, and condos were available for rent in the Valley according to the MLS system. There are 5137 contingent leases and 1747 leases signed in the last 30 days. Last October we had 4311 available rentals and 1496 recent leases. Even our rental market is healthier now than it was last year.

Need more information or help with your real estate needs? Call me today at 702-727-7842 or email bmagnus@bridgetmagnus.com. Although this information is available to all GLVAR members through the MLS system, this article was written and copyright by Bridget Magnus, and is her sole property.