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Foreign buyers purchased 3 percent of the homes sold in Las Vegas during May, and Canadians led the way by an overwhelming margin, according to a report released today by San Diego-based research firm DataQuick.
In a review of public records, DataQuick said investors and second-home buyers purchased 46.2 percent of all homes sold in May, down from a record 49.9 percent in March.
Of the foreign buyers that could be identified, 72 percent were from Canada and 8.2 percent were from Australia. Buyers from Hong Kong, Israel and France accounted for 3 percent to 4 percent of the sales where records indicated a foreign buyer, said DataQuick spokesman Andrew LePage.
The foreign buyers paid a median price of $120,000 for an existing home, $65,000 for condos and $128,000 for newly built homes.
Investor and other buyers continue to seek out lower-priced homes. Some 40.1 percent of May’s sales were for less than $100,000.
Cash buyers, who bought 53 percent of homes in May, paid a median price of $89,000 for a home, down from $90,000 in April and $105,000 in May 2010.
Distressed properties accounted for 68 percent of sales of existing homes.
The 4,570 new and existing homes and condos sold in May is the highest for that month since 2006, when 7,615 were sold.
When excluding new homes, May’s sales of existing homes were nearly 28 percent above the average for May since 1994.
Also since 1994, May’s new home sales of 399 were the second lowest for a May, after May 2009. They fell nearly 17 percent from May 2010, DataQuick reported.
The median price of existing single-family homes sold in May was $125,000, a 9 percent decline from May 2010.
Existing condo prices fell from $73,500 to $61,000, an 11 percent decline in a year.
New home sales prices fell from $198,000 to $189,028, a 4.5 percent decline in a year, DataQuick reported.