Las Vegas Valley house prices flatten after 8 months of gains

A home for sale at 227 Marks St. in Henderson on Monday, April 9, 2012.

After eight months of gains, Las Vegas Valley home prices have flattened out.

The median sales price of a single-family house was $140,000 in October, the same as in September, but up 16 percent from a year ago, according to a report out today from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.

Last month marked the end of the longest run of monthly housing price increases since at least 2004, GVLAR said.

It was only a matter of time before the streak came to a halt, GLVAR President Kolleen Kelley said. There were more listings than sales last month, she noted, adding that as inventory rises, prices won’t climb as high.

“It’s supply and demand,” Kelley said.

Prices flattened amid a jump in sales. Single-family home sales rose by 12 percent from September to October but were down 4.3 percent from October 2011.

Condos and townhouses also had a mixed month. Their median sales price in October was $72,000, up 2.5 percent from September and up 22 percent from a year earlier. Sales volume increased by 6 percent but was down by roughly 13 percent from a year ago.

Other trends persisted. Last month, 54.1 percent of existing homes sold in Southern Nevada were bought with cash, down from 54.8 percent in September. Also, 44.7 percent of existing homes sold in October were short sales, down slightly from a record 44.8 percent in September, but up drastically from 25.4 percent a year ago.

The median price of bank-owned single-family homes sold last month was $132,575, up from $130,000 in September, while the median price of single-family homes sold through short sale was $127,500, the same as in September.

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