It’s time for Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system, which now finally supports access by Macintosh users. Touring, making an offer, or listing a home in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend? Read this first!

Summary: Below, I am including year-over-year figures to show just how far our local real estate market has come. We’re not out of the woods yet, but it is better than it was! Available units are steady at 10902, still just under 11,000. Distressed sales are fairly steady, but down sharply year over year. Contingent and pending units continue to trend upwards; will they break through 15,000 in a few weeks, or will they stay steady around 14,000? Actual sold units seem to be settling in to a “new normal” of roughly 5oo per week. It doesn’t take a lot of math to see that we will be working through those 14,000 contingent units for some time, and many will never close — particularly short sales. The number of rentals available continues to decline and median rent per square foot is edging up, which is great news for investors.

Other Information: More distressed sales are expected in the next few years — Standard and Poor thinks it will take almost 3 years to clear “shadow” inventory — but can banks prove they actually hold the mortgage? At least short sales are (slowly) starting to move. Many homeowners have become pessimistic, and some Baby Boomers have decided to just stay put until property values rise again (assuming unforeseen circumstances do not force a move). The President is in town today, where he plans to unveil yet another housing help initiative to the tune of $1.5 billion in TARP funds. (and n all likelihood say nice things about Harry Reid). And just for fun, top 10 versions of “Viva Las Vegas.”

Available Listings: There are 8963 single family homes (down), with a median price of $174,900 (unchanged), $88 per square foot (unchanged), with median time on market of 91 days (up). In addition, there are 1937 condominiums and townhomes (up), with a median price of $79,950 (up), $70 per square foot (unchanged), and median time on market of 78 days (down). A year ago, we had 16406 available single family homes, 4578 condominiums and townhomes.

Distressed Properties: Of available listings, there are 4977 short sales (up) and 1780 bank-owned properties (down). Median price for a short sale is $129,000 (down); median price on a bank-owned home is $129,900 (unchanged). Short sale listings, whether available or contingent, must be considered at risk of becoming bank owned properties. The 4117 non-distressed properties for sale (down) had a median price of $245,000, unchanged. While many of the non-distressed properties are traditional sellers, many others were purchased less than 6 months ago as short sale or bank owned, and renovated by investors. A year ago, we had 6930 short sales and 7205 bank owned homes — and I was happy that number was down. Wow, what a difference a year makes.

Single Family Home Prices: Of available listings, 150 under $50,000; 1270 between $50,000-$100,000; 4110 between $100,000-$200,000; 2158 between $200,000-$400,000; 671 between $400,000-$700,000; 230 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 512 over $1,000,000. A year ago we had 282 under $50,000; 2048 between $50,000-$100,000; 7126 between $100,000-$200,000; 5120 between $200,000-$500,000; 1204 between $500,000-$1,000,000; and 808 over $1,000,000. As you can see, inventory declined at every price level.

Condo and Townhome Prices: Of available listings, 406 under $50,000; 873 between $50,000-$100,000; 534 between $100,000-$200,000; 128 between $200,000-$400,000; 27 between $400,000-$700,000; 8 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 3 over $1,000,000. Last years figures were 397 under $50,000; 1608 between $50,000-$100,000; 1392 between $100,000-$200,000; 775 between $200,000-$500,000; 300 between $500,000-$1,000,000; and 169 over $1,000,000. While we still have a lot of under $50,000 condos available, all other price ranges dropped substantially. The most amazing drop is in the $500,000+ range.

Contingent and Pending listings: Of the 14439 properties in the process of being purchased (up), 11615 are single family homes with median price of $135,000 (unchanged); 2826 are condominiums or townhomes with median price of $65,000 (unchanged). Final negotiated sales prices are confidential until closing. Of those, 9684 were short sale (up), 3251 were bank owned (down), and 1490 were non-distressed sales (way up). A year ago, we had 6,200 single family homes and 1176 condos and townhomes in contingent/pending status — a little over half the current level.

Recently sold: 531 properties closed in the last week, 3147 in the last 30 days, and 4789 so far this year. For properties closed in the last 30 days, median time on market was 32 days (up, time on market including the contingent period was 104 days). Median sales price was $122,500 (up); median list price was $121,152 (up). Short sales accounted for 701 of them, there were 1792 bank owned properties, and 647 non-distressed sales.

Rentals: 4820 homes, townhomes, and condos were available for rent in the Valley in the MLS system. Median square footage of these units is 1357 and median rent is $1095. There are 809 contingent leases waiting to be signed and 2134 leases signed in the last 30 days.

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.