Investors purchased a record half of all Las Vegas homes sold in March, according to a San Diego research firm that began tracking the trend in 2000.
The sales figure was 49.9 percent, which is up from 41.5 percent in March 2010, according to MDA DataQuick. Some 49.7 percent of homes sold in February were to investors, which includes second-home buyers.
The trend toward investors has been strong as they target homes and condos priced under $100,000. The median price of all new and existing homes and condos sold in March was at its lowest point in 15 years.
Nearly 69 percent of March sales of existing homes were either foreclosures, which continue to rise, or short sales in which the owner owes more on the mortgage than the property is worth.
In March, the 4,953 sales of new and existing homes is the highest tally for a March since 2006, when 8,486 were sold. March sales were up 27.3 percent over February.
Cash buyers accounted for 54 percent of home purchases in March, down from a record 56.7 percent in February but up from 47.7 percent in March 2010.
The continued high level of cash buyers reflects tight lending standards that make it difficult to obtain loans, said DataQuick spokesman Andrew LePage. Investors also opt to use cash because it moves them to the head of the line with sellers when there are multiple offers, he said.
Some of the cash purchases are being done by retirees who downsize from their existing home and use the cash to make the acquisition, LePage said.
Cash buyers in March paid a median price of $88,450, down from $90,242 in February and $103,750 in March 2010.
Investors and second-home buyers combined paid a median price of $99,750 in March, down from $110,000 in March 2010. This includes those who paid cash and used loans.
“The heavy presence of cash buyers and other investors with their focus on lower-cost properties helps explain why 40 percent of all March sales were for less than $100,000,” LePage said. It was 32.4 percent in March 2010 and 28 percent in March 2009, he said.
The median price paid for all new and existing homes and condos sold in March was $117,000, down 1.7 percent from February and 10 percent from March 2010, DataQuick reported. That marked the sixth consecutive month that the median price fell year-over-year.
The $117,000 combined median price is the lowest since January 1996. It’s 62 percent below the median price of $312,000 in November 2006.
Most of the gain has been in the existing home market with 3,493 sales compared with March’s new-home sales of 446 -- the lowest for a March since 1994. That contrasted with the 939 sales of existing condos, which is its highest month since 2005.
Lenders foreclosed on 3,331 homes and condos in March, up 41 percent over February and 52 percent over March 2010. During the first three months of the year, the 8,341 foreclosures are up nearly 49 percent over the first quarter of 2010.