Las Vegas Home Sales Slower in July, Prices Continue to Dip

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According to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors (GLVAR), more local homes are being sold at lower prices when compared to the same time last year.

"After a strong June, July's statistics show that we sold more homes than we did a year ago, but not as many as we sold a month ago," said GLVAR President Paul Bell. "The decrease in sales between June and      July was similar to what occurred at the same time last year, when we also saw the number of homes sold decline by more than 12 percent in one month."

As for declining local home prices, Bell said prices continue to reflect investors and cash buyers purchasing homes at bargain prices. He added that "one-third of all our sales were for less than $100,000. Over half of the foreclosed homes have been selling for less than $100,000 as well."

Demand for housing in Southern Nevada remains strong. For instance, Bell said GLVAR's Multiple Listing Service shows about 144,000 local properties have sold since January of 2008, including about 117,000 single-family homes.

Report highlights include

• The monthly value of local real estate transactions tracked through the MLS during July decreased 11.1 percent for homes, to more than $478 million. For condos and townhomes, the total value of all sales in July was nearly $67 million, down 2.3 percent from June. Compared to one year ago, total sales volumes in July were down 1.9 percent for homes and down 7.1 percent for condos and townhomes.

• Through July, 65.5 percent of all homes and 68.5 percent of all condos and townhomes sold within 60 days. That compares to June, when 66.6 percent of all homes and 69.7 percent of all condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.

The total number of local homes, condominiums and townhomes sold in July was 4,037. That's down from 4,540 in June, but up from 3,748 total sales one year ago. Within that total, single-family home sales increased by 7.3 percent, while sales of condos and townhomes increased by 9.1 percent when compared to July of 2010.

According to GLVAR, the median price of a single-family home sold in July was $122,000, down 2.0 percent from $124,500 in June and down 9.6 percent from $135,000 one year ago.

The median price of local condominiums and townhomes sold in July was $59,000, down 1.5 percent from $59,900 in June and down 13.2 percent from $68,000 one year ago.

GLVAR reported that the median price of bank-owned single-family homes sold in July was $107,000. The median price of single-family homes sold as part of a short sale in July was $132,000. That compares to June, when the median price of bank-owned homes was $109,000 and the median price of all short sales was $129,000.

In July, GLVAR reported that 52 percent of all existing homes sold in Southern Nevada were purchased with cash. That's up from an even 50 percent in June.

Meanwhile, 20.2 percent of all existing homes sold in Southern Nevada during July 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 21.6 percent in June, and down from a peak of 34 percent set in June 2010.

Bank-owned      homes accounted for 50.2 percent of all existing home sales in July, up from 47.2 percent of all sales in June.

GLVAR reported that the total number of homes listed for sale on its MLS decreased slightly from June to July, with a total of 22,442 single-family homes listed for sale at the end of July. That's      down 1.1 percent from 22,702 single-family homes listed for sale at the end of June, but up 3.2 percent from one year ago.

GLVAR reported a total of 5,096 condos and townhomes listed for sale on its MLS at the end of July. That's down 2.9 percent from 5,248 in June and down 15.6 percent from one year ago.

The number of available properties listed for sale without any sort of pending or contingent offer decreased slightly from the previous      month. By the end of July, GLVAR reported 10,975 single-family      homes listed without any sort of offer. That's down 3.3 percent from 11,350 homes in June, but up 8.4 percent from one year ago.

For condos and townhomes, the 2,492 properties listed without offers in July represented a 6.2 percent decrease from the 2,656 properties listed without offers in June and a decrease of 13.9 percent from last year.

This month's GLVAR statistics include activity through the end of July 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.

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