Happy New Year, and thanks for reading Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. This is the “real deal” that you and your Realtor need to know before touring, making offers, or listing property in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend!

Summary: Available listings drifted back under 11,000 again, continuing a trend of stability at this level. List prices on available units is however sliding a little. It is worth remembering that some listings agreements expired at midnight last night; today is technically a holiday, so Monday may see an influx of 100-300 renewed listings. The number of contingent and pending listings continued to drop, but remains over 13,000 for the time being. The gap between list price and final sales price is widening, with median buyers typically paying $5000 over asking price. Nobody is getting “lowball” offers accepted except in the most unusual of circumstances.

Other Information: Many thanks to Flipchip over at Prof’s Las Vegas Blog for posting some excellent photos of last night’s fireworks! For more photos of the festivities, check out this page from Chanel 8′s Las Vegas Now. (Yes, the lady who does the news on CSI is our real newscaster.) However, if you only have time to read one item on the Vegas economy and where it is going, it should be this one. Does Vegas depend too much on gaming? The last few paragraphs deal very specifically with real estate:

Don’t look for a construction boom anytime soon in Las Vegas given the excess in homes and commercial buildings, [UNLV economist Mary] Riddel says. One count had more than 15,000 homes, apartments and condominiums without prospective buyers or renters, she says. [snip]

The concern is that prices, which have started to stabilize, are in danger of falling again, Riddel says. The reason is that a homebuyer tax credit artificially inflates prices and when the program ends in 2010, prices might decline again, she says.

Riddel says she expects another wave of foreclosures because many homeowners haven’t been making their payments, and banks haven’t moved against them because they have a backlog. She said banks have no incentive to put every foreclosure on the market right away to further depress prices.

Available Listings: There are 8868 single family homes (down), with a median price of $172,500 (down), $89 per square foot (down), with median time on market of 86 days (unchanged). In addition, there are 1950 condominiums and townhomes (down), with a median price of $82,250 (down), $72 per square foot (down), and median time on market of 76 days (down). At the beginning of December we had 9082 single family homes with a median price of $175,000, $89 per square foot, with median time on market of 83 days and 2001 condominiums/townhomes  with a median price of $87,000, $74 per square foot, and median time on market of 73 days.

Distressed Properties: Of available listings, there are 4568 short sales (down) and 2280 bank-owned properties (up). Median price for a short sale is $129,900 (unchanged); median price on a bank-owned home is $127,900 (down). Short sale listings, whether available or contingent, must be considered at risk of becoming bank owned properties. The 3943 non-distressed properties for sale (down) had a median price of $259,900, down. Last month we had 4563 short sales with a median price of $130,000 and 2335 bank-owned properties with a median price of $124,900.

Single Family Home Prices: Of available listings, 185 under $50,000; 1358 between $50,000-$100,000; 3910 between $100,000-$200,000; 2112 between $200,000-$400,000; 676 between $400,000-$700,000; 236 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 533 over $1,000,000. At the beginning of December we had 191 under $50,000; 1400 between $50,000-$100,000; 3854 between $100,000-$200,000; 2203 between $200,000-$400,000; 723 between $400,000-$700,000; 276 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 599 over $1,000,000. Substantial contraction in the number of units priced over $700,000 and over $1,000,000!

Condo and Townhome Prices: Of available listings, 386 under $50,000; 887 between $50,000-$100,000; 518 between $100,000-$200,000; 141 between $200,000-$400,000; 40 between $400,000-$700,000; 10 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 12 over $1,000,000. Last month it was 384 under $50,000; 863 between $50,000-$100,000; 553 between $100,000-$200,000; 174 between $200,000-$400,000; 46 between $400,000-$700,000; 13 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 19 over $1,000,000.

Contingent and Pending listings: Of the 13387 properties in the process of being purchased (down), 10778 are single family homes with median price of $137,000 (down), $75 per square foot (unchanged), 27 days on market median (up); 2609 are condominiums or townhomes with median price of $65,000 (unchanged), $60 per square foot (unchanged), 29 days days on market median (down). Final negotiated sales prices are confidential until closing. Days on market is limited to the time the property was actually available and excludes the contingent period. Of those, 8932 were short sale (down), 3308 were bank owned (down), and 1128 were non-distressed sales (down). In December, we had 14259 contingent and pending listings including 8931 short sales, 3934 bank owned properties, and 1363 non-distressed sales.

Recently sold: In 2009 we closed 46,606 properties! This number may go up as the system gets belatedly updated; it does not reflect official county recorder statistics (which includes properties sold outside the MLS system). 651 properties closed in the last week, 3636 in the last 30 days, and 0 so far this year (January 1 is a holiday; no closes are expected). For properties closed in the last 30 days, median time on market was 23 days (unchanged, time on market including the contingent period was 91 days). Median sales price was $124,000 (down); median list price was $120,000 (down). Notice that the gap between sales and list price is widening — and that list price is below sales price! Short sales accounted for 699 of them, there were 2179 bank owned properties, and 749 non-distressed sales. Last month, median time on market was 21 days, median sales price was $125,000 and median list price was $124,900.

Rentals: 5167 homes, townhomes, and condos were available for rent in the Valley according to the MLS system. Median square footage of these units is 1394, and median rent is $1100. There are 554 contingent leases waiting to be signed and 1485 leases signed in the last 30 days. Clearly nobody signed a new lease unless they had truly needed to do so. There were 21481 leases signed in 2009. At the beginning of December, we had 5332 available, 591 contingent, and 1676 newly signed leases. Median square footage was effectively unchanged at 1400, and rent was unchanged at $1100.

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.