Welcome to Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Here’s the real deal that you and your Realtor need to know before touring, making an offer, or listing a home in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend.

Summary: We have officially broken through the support level at 10,000 listings; there are only 9896 homes, condos, and townhomes available in the MLS! All other things being equal, I would expect prices to begin rising. However, with the expiration of the home buyer tax credit, demand will be down in the coming few weeks. If there were a local “phantom inventory” of bank owned homes not on the market, they would start being listed now. Contingent and pending listings did rise slightly and remain over 16,000, but I anticipate a drop a few hundred next week. Short sales continue to be the lion’s share of contingent listings. Closings continue to be strong, with an encouraging number of short sales and non-distressed sales closing. The number of available rentals continues to decline despite the fact that area apartment complexes report improving but higher than normal vacancy. Considering that apartment rents average only $775 locally, it’s clear that many families would rather pay more for the extra space and amenities of a rental home.

Other Information: Well, we had the best job creation numbers in 4 years, and people are working more hours, yet the unemployment rate rose. The big picture is looking ever so slightly better for the economy. One more item of critical importance for those at risk of losing their home: banks sometimes “miscommunicate” and make mistakes.

Available Listings: There are 7949 single family homes (down), with a median price of $179,500 (down), $90 per square foot (up), with median time on market of 73 days (unchanged). In addition, there are 1948 condominiums and townhomes (up), with a median price of $78,000 (down), $70 per square foot (unchanged), and median time on market of 64 days (unchanged). At the beginning of April we had 8213 single family homes with a median price of $179,361, $89 per square foot, with median time on market of 76 days, and 1878 condominiums and townhomes with a median price of $79,900, $70 per square foot, and median time on market of 70 days. The change in proportion of single family homes to condos/townhomes over the last several weeks is interesting, but it is hard to tell if there is any significance.

Distressed Properties: Of available listings, there are 4168 short sales (down) and 1671 bank-owned properties (up). Median price for a short sale is $133,000 (up); median price on a bank-owned home is $128,000 (down). All short sale listings must be considered at risk of becoming bank owned properties whether they are available or contingent. The 4029 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 4491 short sales, 1442 bank-owned properties, and 4138 non-distressed properties for sale. Median list prices were $130,000, $135,900, and $239,900 respectively.

Single Family Home Prices: Of available listings, 109  under $50,000; 986 between $50,000-$100,000; 3609 between $100,000-$200,000; 2017 between $200,000-$400,000; 624 between $400,000-$700,000; 237 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 482 over $1,000,000. At the beginning of last month we had 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.

Condo and Townhome Prices: Of available listings, 409 under $50,000; 923 between $50,000-$100,000; 519 between $100,000-$200,000; 111 between $200,000-$400,000; 22 between $400,000-$700,000; 6 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 2 over $1,000,000. Last month’s figures were 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.

Contingent and Pending listings: Of the 16387 properties in the process of being purchased (up), 13313 are single family homes with median price of $136,500 (up); 3076 are condominiums or townhomes with median price of $65,800 (up). Final negotiated sales prices are confidential until closing. Of those, 11618  were short sale (up), 2669 were bank owned (down), and 2086 were non-distressed sales (down). April’s numbers were 15362 contingent and pending listings.

Recently sold: 841 properties closed in the last week, 3535 in the last 30 days, and 14151 so far this year. For properties closed in the last 30 days, median time on market was 27 days (down, time on market including the contingent period was 102 days). Median sales price was $127,500 (down); median list price was $128,900 (down). Short sales accounted for 930 of them, there were 1555 bank owned properties, and 1044 non-distressed sales.

Rentals: 4022 homes, townhomes, and condos were available for rent in the Valley in the MLS system. Median square footage of these units is 1369 and median rent is $1100. There are 733 contingent leases waiting to be signed and 2077 leases signed in the last 30 days with median rent of $1125 and median square footage of 1515. There were 4582 available rentals at the beginning of March — a substantial drop.

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.