Las Vegas Home Sales, Prices Continued to Decline in July

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According to the latest stats from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors (GLVAR), home sales and home prices declined further in July 2010.

GLVAR President Rick Shelton said this month's statistics are another sign that the local housing market may be "bouncing along the bottom."

"There's no need for alarm," Shelton said of this month's statistics. "Our slight sales volume decrease is matching the increase we saw in the previous several months, due most certainly to the federal homebuyers' tax credit. The tax credit expired at the end of April, bringing with it about a 12 percent falloff in sales. With all-time low interest rates and our hyper-deflated prices here in Las Vegas, we would hope not to see much more of an impact on sales volume."

The median single-family home price in Southern Nevada during July was $135,000, down 3.6 percent from $140,000 in June and down 2.7 percent from July 2009. Shelton noted that July was a departure from the previous three months, when local median home prices had been either stable or increasing slightly compared to the same month in 2009.

The median price of local condominiums and townhomes sold in July was $68,000. That's down 2.9 percent from $70,000 in June, but up 1.5 percent from $67,000 one year ago.

Reversing a trend that had held steady through 2010, GLVAR reported a monthly decrease in short sales and an increase in sales involving foreclosed homes. In February, 22 percent of all existing homes sold in Southern Nevada were short sales. That number increased to 25 percent in March to 27 percent in April to 29 percent in May to a high of 34 percent in June to 31 percent in July. Meanwhile, Shelton said bank-owned homes accounted for 53 percent of all local home sales in February, falling to 50 percent in March to 43 percent in April to 40 percent in May to 38 percent in June before inching back up to 42 percent in July.

According to the GLVAR, the total number of local homes, condominiums and townhomes sold in July was 3,748. That's down from 4,265 in June and down from 4,602 one year ago.

Shelton said the percentage of local homes purchased with cash went up last month, increasing from 42.5 percent of all sales in June to 45.9 percent in July.

Shelton said buyers are continuing to benefit from increases in the total number of homes listed for sale and the number of homes listed without any sort of pending offer. July marked the third straight month that both inventory categories showed an increased number of homes listed for sale.

By the end of July, GLVAR reported 10,126 single-family homes listed for sale without any sort of pending or contingent offer and another 2,894 such condos and townhomes. That's up 10.4 percent for homes and 6.8 percent for condos compared to June.

As for the larger, or gross, number of listings on GLVAR's Multiple Listing Service, GLVAR reported a total of 21,750 single-family homes listed for sale at the end of July. That's up 1.8 percent from 21,361 single-family homes listed for sale at the end of June and up 6.5 percent from 20,423 homes listed one year ago.

GLVAR reported 6,036 condos and townhomes listed for sale on its MLS at the end of July. That's up 0.6 percent from 5,998 such listings in June and up 12.2 percent from 5,378 such listings one year ago.

This month's GLVAR statistics include activity through the end of July 2010. GLVAR distributes such statistics each month based on data collected through its Multiple Listing Service, 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 total number of local single-family homes sold in July was 2,948. That's down 12.3 percent from 3,360 in June and down 21.1 percent from 3,738 in July 2009.

• The total number of condos and townhomes sold in July was 800, down 11.6 percent from 905 in June and down 7.4 percent from 864 such sales one year ago.

• The value of local real estate transactions tracked through the MLS during July decreased 13.6 percent for homes, from more than $564 million in June to more than $487 million in July. For condo and townhome sales, the total value of all sales was nearly $72 million in July, down 12.3 percent from nearly $82 million in June sales. Compared to one year ago, total sales volumes in July were down 20.2 percent for homes and down 4.7 percent for condos and townhomes.

• Through July, 69.5 percent of all single-family homes and 74.4 percent of all condos and townhomes sold within 60 days. That compares favorably to June, when 68.1 percent of all single-family homes and 72.3 percent of all condos and townhomes sold within 60 days. Homes continue to sell faster than they did one year ago.

 

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