Las Vegas Home, Condo Sale Spike 28% in March as Prices Slip Further

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Based on a new report by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors (GLVAR), local home sales soared and prices slipped in March compared to the previous month and year.

"Local homes were already selling at a strong pace, but sales increased significantly in March," said GLVAR President Paul Bell. "As for the slight decrease in median home prices last month, I think real estate investors are influencing that statistic because they tend to buy lower-priced homes, which are generally owned by banks."

According to GLVAR, 51.4 percent of all existing homes sold in Southern Nevada during March were purchased with cash. That's down from 53.8 percent in February. That's also the first time this cash buyer percentage has gone down since it dipped briefly between August and September of 2010.

Despite the decline in cash buyers last month, Bell said "this is still a very high percentage of people paying cash for homes." As long as local home prices remain so affordable and lending standards remain relatively stringent, Bell said he expects this percentage to hover near record levels as investors play a dominant role in the local housing market.

The total number of local homes, condominiums and townhomes sold in March was 4,316. That's up from 3,371 total sales in February and up from 3,989 total sales one year ago.

Within that total, single-family home sales increased by 30.6 percent between February and March, while sales of condos and townhomes jumped 19.5 percent during the same time.

GLVAR reported that the median single-family home price during March was $125,950, down 1.6 percent from $128,000 in February. That's down 7.4 percent from one year ago.

The median price of local condominiums and townhomes sold in March was $61,000, down 2.0 percent from $62,250 in February and down 10.6 percent from one year ago.

In March, 23.6 percent of all existing homes sold in Southern Nevada were short sales, which occur when a bank agrees to sell a home for less than what the borrower owes on the mortgage. That's down from 26.6 percent in February and from a peak of 34 percent set in June 2010.

Meanwhile, GLVAR found that bank-owned homes accounted for 47.6 percent of all existing home sales in March, down from 51.6 percent in February.

GLVAR reported that the total number of homes listed for sale on its Multiple Listing Service decreased slightly from February to March, with a total of 22,184 single-family homes listed for sale at the end of the month. That's down 0.6 percent from 22,307 homes listed for sale at the end of February and up 8.0 percent from one year ago.

GLVAR reported a total of 5,270 condos and townhomes listed for sale on its MLS at the end of March. That's up 9.9 percent from 4,794 in February and down 6.9 percent from one year ago.

At the same time, the number of available properties listed for sale without any sort of pending or contingent offer decreased from the previous month. By the end of March, GLVAR reported 11,334 single-family homes listed without any sort of offer. That's down 5.7 percent from 12,019 in February, but still up 49.3 percent from one year ago.

For condos and townhomes, the 2,698 properties listed without offers in March represented an 8.2 percent decrease from the 2,938 properties listed without offers in February, but an increase of 18.1 percent from last year.

This month's GLVAR statistics include activity through the end of March 2011. GLVAR distributes such statistics each month based on data collected through its MLS, which does not necessarily account for newly constructed homes sold by local builders or for sale by owners. Other highlights reported by GLVAR include:

• The monthly value of local real estate transactions tracked through the MLS during March increased 31.0 percent for homes, to nearly $531 million. For condos and townhomes, the total value of all sales in March was nearly $72 million, up 1.4 percent from February. Compared to one year ago, total sales volumes in March were down 0.5 percent for homes and down 5.3 percent for condos and townhomes.

• Through March, 57.0 percent of all homes and 63.4 percent of all condos and townhomes sold within 60 days. That compares to February, when 55.8 percent of all homes and 58.2 percent of all condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.

 

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