It’s time once again for Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. This is critical data for anyone touring, making an offer, or listing a home in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend.

Summary: Available listings are under the 11,000 mark at 10859, almost 200 less than at the beginning of last month, but the interesting part is that time on market is down quite a bit from last week. Median prices are unchanged, but that won’t last long if inventory and time on market are both decreasing. Interestingly enough, there has been a notable drop in the number of million dollar plus homes available. Contingent units edged up to 14,629, but my concerns over how many of those will actually close remain. We did have over 800 closings in the last week, a level we haven’t seen in months. All things considered, our current market conditions are slowly improving, and much better than it was 2 years ago in every way except price. However, continued improvement is all in the hands of the big mortgage players and banks: they alone will determine how many short sales succeed and how many foreclosed homes hit the market — and at what prices.

Other Information: It’s hard to talk about the housing situation without remembering that unemployment is still high at 9.7% and the economy is losing jobs — it’s hard to pay the mortgage without a paycheck. Here’s an interesting item on housing prices and job creation. At least a jobs bill has been passed by the House, even if it’s too small to count for much by some estimates. There is pressure to break up “too big to fail” banks, and that would include big mortgage players like Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

Available Listings: There are 8898 single family homes (down), with a median price of $174,900 (unchanged), $88 per square foot (unchanged), with median time on market of 83 days (down). In addition, there are 1960 condominiums and townhomes (up), with a median price of $79,900 (unchanged), $70 per square foot (unchanged), and median time on market of 71 days (down). At the beginning of last month, we had 9096 single family homes with a median price of $172,900 $88 per square foot (unchanged), with median time on market of 89 days and 1931 condominiums and townhomes  with a median price of $80,000, $70 per square foot, and median time on market of 80 days.

Distressed Properties: Of available listings, there are 4971 short sales (down) and 1715 bank-owned properties (down). Median price for a short sale is $129,000 (down); median price on a bank-owned home is $133,350 (up). Short sale listings, whether available or contingent, must be considered at risk of becoming bank owned properties. The 4141 non-distressed properties for sale (down) had a median price of $242,000, up. 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. At the beginning of last month we had 4975 short sales and 1875 bank-owned properties.

Single Family Home Prices: Of available listings, 129  under $50,000; 1273 between $50,000-$100,000; 4101 between $100,000-$200,000; 2182 between $200,000-$400,000; 645 between $400,000-$700,000; 228 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 495 over $1,000,000. Last month there were 45 under $50,000; 1362 between $50,000-$100,000; 4109 between $100,000-$200,000; 2199 between $200,000-$400,000; 675 between $400,000-$700,000; 236 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 516 over $1,000,000.

Condo and Townhome Prices: Of available listings, 430 under $50,000; 888 between $50,000-$100,000; 523 between $100,000-$200,000; 121 between $200,000-$400,000; 28 between $400,000-$700,000; 9 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 2 over $1,000,000. Last month there were 379 under $50,000; 907 between $50,000-$100,000; 513 between $100,000-$200,000; 133 between $200,000-$400,000; 27 between $400,000-$700,000; 9 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 4 over $1,000,000.

Contingent and Pending listings: Of the 14629 properties in the process of being purchased (up), 11806 are single family homes with median price of $135,000 (down); 2822 are condominiums or townhomes with median price of $65,000 (unchanged). Final negotiated sales prices are confidential until closing. Of those, 9960 were short sale (up), 3080 were bank owned (down), and 1578 were non-distressed sales (up). At the beginning of last month, our contingent and pending units were 11068 single family homes with median price of $135,900 and 273  condominiums or townhomes with median price of $65,000; 9303 were short sale, 3194 were bank owned, and 1289 were non-distressed sales.

Recently sold: 803 properties closed in the last week, 3119 in the last 30 days, and 6563 so far this year. For properties closed in the last 30 days, median time on market was 34 days (up, time on market including the contingent period was 106 days). Median sales price was $123,000 (down); median list price was $122,900 (down). Short sales accounted for 715 of them, there were 1691 bank owned properties, and 706 non-distressed sales. Last month, median sales price was $120,000 and median list price was $119,997.

Rentals: 4582 homes, townhomes, and condos were available for rent in the Valley in the MLS system. Median square footage of these units is 1362 and median rent is $1095. There are 693 contingent leases waiting to be signed and 2264 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.