GLVAR issues July report

A Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors report shows the local housing market tilting further in favor of buyers, with a slight decline in home prices and a record number of homes listed for sale in Southern Nevada.

"Due to the slight decrease in median prices and very strong economic projections for the Las Vegas Valley, now may be the optimal time to buy a home," said Devin Reiss, president of the GLVAR.

This month's GLVAR statistics include activity through the end of July. The association distributes such statistics each month based on data collected through its Multiple Listing Service, which does not account for new homes sold by local builders. This month's highlights include:

The median sales price of a single-family home sold in the Las Vegas area decreased to $295,000. That's down 3.3 percent from $305,000 in June and down 4.8 percent from $310,000 last year. This is the first time the median price has dipped below $300,000 since April 2005, when the median price was $297,000.

For condos and townhomes, the median sales price in July increased slightly to $195,000. That's a 0.4 percent increase from $194,250 last month and a decrease of 3.2 percent from $201,500 last year.

The number of local homes listed for sale through July increased again. For single-family homes, the GLVAR reported 24,087 homes listed for sale. That's up 1.9 percent from June, when listings were 23,642. That's also up 18.8 percent from June 2006, when 20,273 homes were listed for sale.

Reiss noted that the number of single-family homes listed for sale in Southern Nevada has reached an all-time peak, surpassing the previous record set last month.

The number of condos and townhomes listed for sale increased slightly to 6,269 in July. That's up 0.1 percent from June when 6,263 units were listed for sale. That's also an increase of 28 percent from 4,898 listings in July 2006.

The total number of local single-family homes sold in July was 1,318, down 10.7 percent from 1,476 in June and down 34 percent from 1,996 sales in July 2006. For condos and townhomes, 303 were sold in July, down 11.9 percent from 344 units sold last month and down 40 percent from 505 units sold in July 2006.

Reiss said that all the local real estate transactions tracked through the MLS translated into nearly $500 million of sales volume, which is a 21.3 percent decrease from last month and a decrease of 33.1 percent from last July.

Through July, 51.1 percent of all single-family homes and 46.8 percent of all condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.

In comparison, 52.8 percent of all single-family homes and 48.5 percent of all condos and townhomes sold within 60 days last month.