Welcome to the first Friday Figures of 2011! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Here’s what you and your Realtor should know about the Las Vegas Valley real estate market 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 every Friday at 1 PM. The archive is up and running if you’ve missed an episode.

Summary: With available listings declining slightly to 16,142, it looks like we’ve hit a stable point at last. There’s even a glimmer of hope that the condo market may be finishing it’s long slide, as now everyone understands that they are effectively cash only. Even better news, the number of contingent and pending listings is below 11,000. It was a very weak week for final sales, as everyone wanted to get transactions closed before the end of the year. However, there was a “normal” level of sales over the last 30 days.

Other Information: It’s been yet another banner week for foreclosure fraud news. The latest breaking item is that US Bank and Wells Fargo have lost a key legal battle in Massachusetts, and must prove they have legal standing to foreclose. Here’s the best explanation I’ve seen of what’s gone wrong and how it’s cheating your County, and you. Meanwhile, plenty of evidence of actual fraud has come out, but nobody seems willing to put bankers in jail for it — if I lied to a judge, he would toss me in prison. Instead, there are talks of “settlements” with the big banks. (I call this the BAMTOR Principle: Banks Always Make Their Own Rules).  Meanwhile there is speculation that banks are still underestimating (or under-reporting?) mortgage defaults. Due to public outcry, the Fed will be backing new rules to help end foreclosure “abuses.” Bank of America agreed to pay Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a mere $2.8 Billion to buy back bad mortgage bonds. They also face a class action suit on mortgage modifications.

Some experts think it may be decades before home prices recover to pre-crash levels. Some cities may never recover. Obviously, a real housing recovery depends on job growth, and Mr. Bernanke thinks that will take years. If you didn’t see my item the other day on housing predictions, here it is. There is some good news to report here: mortgage rates dropped to 4.77% this week. Apartment vacancies are also dropping, which means there is opportunity for investors in rental properties.

A new report on the Vegas economy has good news and bad news. On one hand it will take a long time to really get out of the recession, but on the other hand convention business is recovering, and nationally hotel revenue per available room is up.

Available Listings: There are 13225 single family homes (down), with a median price of $139,900 (unchanged), $75 per square foot (unchanged), with median time on market of 108 days (unchanged). In addition, there are 2910 condominiums and townhomes (down), with a median price of $69,000 (unchanged), $61 per square foot (unchanged), and median time on market of 100 days (unchanged). At the beginning of December, we had 13432 single family homes with a median price of $142,000 and 2939 condominiums and townhomes with a median price of $69,500.

Distressed Properties: Of available listings, there are 7794 short sales (down) and 3566 bank-owned properties (down). Median price for a short sale is $115,000 (unchanged); median price on a bank-owned home is $109,900 (unchanged). All short sale listings must be considered at risk of becoming bank owned properties whether they are available or contingent. The 4738 non-distressed properties for sale (down) had a median price of $180,000 (down). 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 month we had 7937 short sales, 3493 bank-owned, and 4905 non-distressed properties available.

Single Family Home Prices: Of available listings, 344 under $50,000; 3146 between $50,000-$100,000; 6586 between $100,000-$200,000; 2192 between $200,000-$400,000; 565 between $400,000-$700,000; 202 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 389 over $1,000,000. December’s numbers were 305 under $50,000; 3075 between $50,000-$100,000; 6679 between $100,000-$200,000; 2345 between $200,000-$400,000; 590 between $400,000-$700,000; 235 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 413 over $1,000,000.

Condo and Townhome Prices: Of available listings, 830 under $50,000; 1499 between $50,000-$100,000; 533 between $100,000-$200,000; 88 between $200,000-$400,000; 14 between $400,000-$700,000; 5 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 2 over $1,000,000. For technical reasons, these figures do not include high-rise communities. A month ago we had 818 under $50,000; 1483 between $50,000-$100,000; 591 between $100,000-$200,000; 91 between $200,000-$400,000; 14 between $400,000-$700,000; 5 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 2 over $1,000,000.

Contingent and Pending Listings: Of the 10950 properties in the process of being purchased (down), 8904 are single family homes with median price of $129,900 (down); 2046 are condominiums or townhomes with median price of $61,561 (down). Final negotiated sales prices are confidential until closing. Of the total, 7425 were short sale (down), 2429 were bank owned (down), and 1080 were non-distressed sales (down). In December we had 7997 short sale, 2740 bank owned, and 1320 non-distressed sales. Big improvements!

Recently Sold: 387 properties closed this week, 3518 in the last 30 days, and 326 so far this year. For properties closed in the last 30 days, median time on market was 43 days (down, time on market including the contingent period was 120 days). Median sales price was $118,000 (up); median list price was $119,900 (unchanged). For single family homes, median sales price was $130,750 (down), and for condos/townhomes, it was $59,000 (up). Short sales accounted for 902 of the total, there were 1815 bank owned properties, and 800 non-distressed sales. The total number of properties sold through the MLS in 2010 was 42573; I am still waiting on official numbers on all properties sold. Last month, Median sales price was $120,000 and median list price was $122,900.

Rentals: 4243 homes, townhomes, and condos were available for rent in the Valley in the MLS system (up). Median square footage of these units is 1368 and median rent is $1100. There are 657 contingent leases waiting to be signed and 1594 leases signed in the last 30 days (down) with median rent of $1100 (unchanged) and median square footage of 1498.

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.