VEGAS INC archives
The slowdown in the nation’s economy hasn’t damped interest in Southern Nevada’s existing-home market.
The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported that the combined 4,693 sales of homes, condominiums and town homes listed on the Multiple Listing Service is one of the highest in the valley’s history. It’s nine short of the record, which was set in June 2009, when 4,702 sales were reported.
August sales rose 16 percent over July’s 4,037 sales, and 29 percent over August 2010, the GLVAR reported.
In breaking down single-family homes, sales rose 17 percent compared with July and 31.5 percent over August 2010. The 3,706 sales of single-family homes trails only June’s 3,785 and July 2009’s 3,738—among the best on record, the GLVAR said.
Even condo and town home sales did well last month. The 987 sales in August were a record for any single month.
GLVAR President Paul Bell attributed the sales surge to strong investor demand for homes, low prices and low interest rates. He said there could’ve been several hundred more sales if banks had approved more short sales.
Despite the gain in sales, prices continued their decline in August, dropping to a median of $120,000 for single-family homes. That’s a decline of $2,000, or 1.6 percent, from July and 14 percent, or $18,000, from August 2010.
The median price of town homes and condos was $56,000, a 5.1 percent decline from July and 16.4 percent decline from August 2010.
About one-third of all homes sales were for less than $100,000 as cash-buying investors looked for bargains.
The median price of bank-owned, single-family homes sold in August was $104,100. The median price of homes sold as part of a short sale was $128,250, the GLVAR reported.
The prices were down from a median of $107,000 for bank-owned homes in July. The median price of short sales in July was $132,000.
In August, 51.2 percent of homes sold were purchased with cash. Bank-owned homes accounted for 50.2 percent of sales, while short sales constituted 21.7 percent.
The supply of single-family homes on the MLS remained steady at 22,400, a decline of 42 homes from July. The supply of condos and town homes stood at 4,862, a decline of 4.6 percent.
Of all Las Vegas homes on the market, the GLVAR reported 11,190 single-family homes didn’t have offers and 2,387 town homes and condos didn’t have offers from buyers.
In the latest foreclosure stats released by California-based CoreLogic, foreclosure rates decreased in June from June 2010.
The rate of foreclosures for the Las Vegas area among outstanding mortgage loans was 7.39 percent, a decline of 1.5 percentage points compared with June 2010.
The delinquency rate also continued its decline, falling to 16.36 percent of loans 90 days or more delinquent.
The delinquency rate has fallen 16 of the past 17 months.