Thanks for reading Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. This is what you and your Realtor really need to know before touring, making an offer, or listing a home in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend.

Summary: Available listings continue to decline, now at just 10,090. It is very likely we may drop under the 10k mark next week. That’s a 7.6% drop in available inventory in the last month! Perhaps more exciting is that we’ve had the first real jump in median price of available single family homes in a long time. Contingent and pending units are down from last week’s levels on a strong number of closings, but still solidly above 15,000. However, over 10,000 are short sales awaiting approval; granted, new rules are supposed to go into effect and the number of short sales closing has gradually been trending upward, but it will take time to get through this backlog. Even so, many still may never close. It is mixed news that the number of available rental units went down again. This may squeeze rents up: good for investors, good for apartment managers with low occupancy, bad for renters in a region where unemployment is well over 10%.

Other Information: Bad news in commercial real estate, where half of commercial mortgages are estimated to be underwater. Since most of these properties are owned by corporations rather than people, there is effectively no consequence if the owners stop paying and walk away. That’s not really bad news for banks, however, because most banks have the resources to manage commercial property. As for residential property, the latest Case-Shiller numbers are out, and The BondDad describes them as “good news and bad news.” Good news, Vegas property values aren’t dropping any more. There is definitely bad news on the horizon, however, as Fannie Mae is reporting a rise in delinquencies. One last general interest item: Scientific American on whether older homes can be made “green” and whether the effort is worthwhile.

Available Listings: There are 8213 single family homes (down), with a median price of $179,361 (up), $89 per square foot (unchanged), with median time on market of 76 days (up). In addition, there are 1878 condominiums and townhomes (down), with a median price of $79,900 (unchanged), $70 per square foot (down), and median time on market of 70 days (up). At the beginning of last month, we had 8898 single family homes with a median price of $174,900 and 1960 condominiums and townhomes with a median price of $79,900.

Distressed Properties: Of available listings, there are 4491 short sales (down) and 1442 bank-owned properties (up). Median price for a short sale is $130,000 (up); median price on a bank-owned home is $135,900 (unchanged). All short sale listings must be considered at risk of becoming bank owned properties whether they are available or contingent. The 4138 non-distressed properties for sale (down) had a median price of $239,900 (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 then renovated by investors. Last month we had 4971 short sales, 1715 bank-owned properties, and 4141 non-distressed properties available.

Single Family Home Prices: Of available listings, 118 under $50,000; 1031 between $50,000-$100,000; 3741 between $100,000-$200,000; 2098 between $200,000-$400,000; 617 between $400,000-$700,000; 230 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 493 over $1,000,000. At the beginning of last month, we had 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.

Condo and Townhome Prices: Of available listings, 391 under $50,000; 854 between $50,000-$100,000; 527 between $100,000-$200,000; 115 between $200,000-$400,000; 24 between $400,000-$700,000; 6 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 1 over $1,000,000. Last month’s available listings were 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. It would be meaningless but true to point out that inventory of available condos and townhomes priced over $1M has dropped by 50% for two months in a row.

Contingent and Pending listings: Of the 15362 properties in the process of being purchased (down), 12424 are single family homes with median price of $135,000 (down); 2938 are condominiums or townhomes with median price of $65,800 (up). Final negotiated sales prices are confidential until closing. Of those, 10853 were short sale (up, over 90% of which are awaiting short sale approval from the mortgage holder), 2705 were bank owned (down), and 1795 were non-distressed sales (down). At the beginning of last month, we had 14629 pending and contingent: 11806 were single family homes while 2822 were condos or townhomes; 9960 were short sale, 3080 were bank owned, and 1578 were non-distressed sales.

Recently sold: An amazing 950 properties closed in the last week ahead of month-end, 3639 in the last 30 days, and 10092 so far this year. That’s right, it’s the second of April and we’ve had more closed properties than we currently have available properties! For properties closed in the last 30 days, median time on market was 31 days (unchanged, time on market including the contingent period was 108 days). Median sales price was $125,000 (up); median list price was $124,900 (up). Short sales accounted for 899 of them (yes, up for a third week!), there were 1848 bank owned properties, and 884 non-distressed sales. Last month, Median sales price was $123,000 and median list price was $122,900.

Rentals: 4321 homes, townhomes, and condos were available for rent in the Valley in the MLS system. Median square footage of these units is 1364 and median rent is $1097. There are 717 contingent leases waiting to be signed and 2065 leases signed in the last 30 days. At the beginning of March we had 4582 available rentals.

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.