The Las Vegas-area real estate market improved in February, two reports issued this week show.
Home Builders Research reported 310 new-home sales locally in February, lifting the total for the year to 526.
The two-month total is up by 57 sales, or 12.2 percent, from the same period in 2011.
The median price of new homes and condominiums closing in February was $193,900, down 6.7 percent from January and down 2.3 percent from February 2011.
Dennis Smith, president of Home Builders Research, said in his monthly market commentary that consumer demand for new homes is rising and this could help lift prices by 4 to 5 percent over the next three to four months.
After that, however, prices may be pressured downward for both new homes and resales when banks start releasing more foreclosed homes to the market.
Separately, foreclosure tracker RealtyTrac reported that while Nevada maintained its No. 1 ranking among the 50 states for foreclosures in February, the number of foreclosures in the state declined markedly.
RealtyTrac said that in February, one in every 278 Nevada homes received a foreclosure filing versus one in every 637 nationwide.
For Nevada, the number of filings fell 28.71 percent from January and 55.74 percent from February 2011 as banks delayed many foreclosures due to regulatory investigations and a new Nevada law requiring improved documentation for foreclosures.
The Las Vegas area, with a foreclosure filing rate of one in every 245 homes in February, experienced similar declines of nearly 30 percent from January and nearly 56 percent from the year-ago month.
Analysts at RealtyTrac expect banks to step up foreclosure activity nationwide now that they’ve finalized a settlement with attorneys general around the country.
“The foreclosure and mortgage settlement filed in court earlier this week will help pave the way to a properly functioning foreclosure process by providing a clear road map for necessary foreclosures,’’ RealtyTrac CEO Brandon Moore said in a statement. “That should result in more states posting annual increases in the coming months.’’
The signs of recovery locally may be encouraging, but analysts caution that growth in the number of foreclosed homes entering the market isn’t the only worry.
They note the Las Vegas area is still struggling under the weight of an elevated unemployment level (13.1 percent) — and that long-term economic improvements locally will require more jobs.