Once more it’s time for Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. It’s what you and your Realtor need to know before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing this weekend. You can see me tell you about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network today at 1 PM.

Summary: There’s 14566 available units this morning, a huge gain from last year’s artificially low levels. Contingent and pending listings are similarly down year over year, but the drop in the number of short sales under contract is striking. It’s still going to be a long time before we are out of the short sale mess, but progress is being made. Time on market for homes that are closing is starting to drop, a sign that buyers are interested in well-priced homes.

The News: I’m a little bit of a contrarian, so I love when I read stories about “Hate” for homeownership or no housing recovery until 2014 or even how my colleagues are having tough times. All this means that sentiment about real estate is horrible; the talk about how there’s no end in sight is actually a possible sign that we’re really turning the corner. It is true that home sales nationwide dropped 0.5% in April — and 12.9% from April of 2010 (we had an 8% gain in Vegas!) — delinquencies are improving. There will be no recovery without getting huge numbers of foreclosures out of the pipeline.

Speaking of foreclosures and foreclosure fraud, HUD has determined that the 5 biggest mortgage servicers are defrauding taxpayers! New York’s Attorney General is investigating mortgage fraud on his own: a bad sign for a national settlement but a great sign for justice. Banks aren’t happy about a proposed new simplified mortgage form. They claim it could “stifle” new products (or rather make it harder for them to sell you something you don’t need).

In local news, state unemployment is down to 12.5%, partly because roughly 44,000 people left the state over the last year. While some people (people who don’t live here by the way) think Vegas is starting to look like Detroit (sure, except for the high taxes, crumbling roads, antiquated infrastructure, frequent blackouts, dismal schools, lead lined water pipes… sure, just like Vegas), the fact of the matter is that apartment rents and occupancy are rising.

Available Listings: There are 12094 single family homes (down), with a median price of $134,999 (up), $73 per square foot (unchanged), with median time on market of 89 days (up). In addition, there are 2472 condominiums and townhomes (down), with a median price of $63,088 (down), $57 per square foot (up), and median time on market of 83 days (unchanged). A year ago we had 8361 single family homes with a median price of $175,000 and 2040 condominiums and townhomes with a median price of $77,000, for a total of 10400.

Distressed Properties: Of available listings, there are 6676 short sales (down) and 3081 bank-owned properties (up). Median price for a short sale is $110,000 (up); median price on a bank-owned home is $102,500 (up). All short sale listings must be considered at risk of becoming bank owned properties whether they are available or contingent. The 4807 non-distressed properties for sale (down) had a median price of $174,900 (unchanged). While many of the non-distressed properties are traditional sellers, many others were purchased fairly recently as short sale or bank owned, and then renovated by investors. Last year there were 4337 short sales, 1905 bank-owned properties, and 4139 non-distressed properties available.

Single Family Home Prices: Of available listings, 387 under $50,000; 3342 between $50,000-$100,000; 5340 between $100,000-$200,000; 2010 between $200,000-$400,000; 557 between $400,000-$700,000; 237 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 370 over $1,000,000. In May 2010, 120 under $50,000; 1129 between $50,000-$100,000; 3852 between $100,000-$200,000; 2067 between $200,000-$400,000; 600 between $400,000-$700,000; 246 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 483 over $1,000,000.

Condo and Townhome Prices: Of available listings, 843 under $50,000; 1224 between $50,000-$100,000; 382 between $100,000-$200,000; 54 between $200,000-$400,000; 8 between $400,000-$700,000; 1 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 2 over $1,000,000. A year ago it was 436 under $50,000; 975 between $50,000-$100,000; 527 between $100,000-$200,000; 119 between $200,000-$400,000; 22 between $400,000-$700,000; 6 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 2 over $1,000,000.

Contingent and Pending Listings: Of the 13546 properties in the process of being purchased (up), 11204 are single family homes with median price of $125,000 (down); 2343 are condominiums or townhomes with median price of $59,900 (unchanged). Final negotiated sales prices are confidential until closing. Of the total, 8334 are short sale, 3293 are foreclosed, and 1920 are traditional sales. While the bank-owned and traditional sales are likely to close within 30-45 days, no time frame is available for unapproved short sales. Last year there were 16470 contingent and pending listings, an amazing 11739 of them short sales. Clearly an improvement!

Recently Sold: 753 properties closed this week, 3909 in the last 30 days, and 16499 so far this year. For properties closed in the last 30 days, median time on market was 39 days (down, time on market including the contingent period was 115 days). Median sales price was $110,750 (down); median list price was $114,900 (unchanged). For single family homes, median sales price was $126,000 (unchanged), and for condos/townhomes, it was $60,000 (up). Short sales accounted for 911 of the total, there were 1788 bank owned properties, and 1214 non-distressed sales. A year ago, we had closed 3606 in the last 30 days; median sales price was $127,000 and median list price was $129,000.

Rentals: 3757 homes, townhomes, and condos were available for rent in the Valley in the MLS system (up). Median square footage of these units is 1405 and median rent is $1100. There are 899 contingent leases waiting to be signed and 2332 leases signed in the last 30 days (up) with median rent of $1100 (unchanged) and median square footage of 1522. In May 2010 there were 3858 available with a median price of $1100 and 2164 new leases with a median rent of $1150.

Need more information or help with your real estate needs? Call me today at 702-727-7842 or email bmagnus@bridgetmagnus.com. Based on information from the Greater Las Vegas Association of REALTORS Multiple Listing Service for the date specified above. This article was written and copyright by Bridget Magnus, and is her sole property.