Home inventory increases in May

The inventory of homes for sale in Las Vegas crept up to 23,348 in May, about 400 more than the previous month, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported Thursday.

Inventory, considered one of the culprits in the valley's declining housing market, peaked above 24,000 in summer 2007 and has climbed by a few hundred each month since its December low.

Single-family home sales rose for the fifth consecutive month to 2,206 in May, a 29.2 percent increase from a year ago and the second straight month of year-over-year increases.

The median sales price of $236,692 is down 21.5 percent from a year ago but up slightly from April, the Realtors' statistics showed.

Patty Kelley, the association's president, said she's encouraged to see sales prices and the supply of homes starting to stabilize.

"These are all good signs for a local housing market that has been working its way through some unprecedented challenges over the past 16 months," she said. "We're going forward and sales keep going up."

Realtors had been reporting a steady decline in median home prices during the first quarter, largely due to the high number of bank-owned properties that were selling below market value, Kelley said.

Applied Analysis, a Las Vegas-based financial consultancy, listed less than 22,000 homes in the resale inventory as of June 2, the lowest total since February 2007.

The number of contingent and pending sales, which had been escalating since the beginning of the year, pulled back for one week to 6,746 units.

About 45 percent of contingent sales have been identified as "short sales," or sales in which the lender will be required to accept less than the balance owed, Applied Analysis principal Brian Gordon said. Those deals can be challenging to consummate, he added.

"I think a positive sign is the number of pending and contingent sales continued to climb, which suggests more units are being contracted," Gordon said. "One area we remain concerned about is units being sold as short sales. Many of these units still require bank approval. It's difficult for lenders to release home sellers from those obligations."

The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors tallied 266 condominium and townhome sales in May, compared with 212 in April. The median sales price, however, decreased 10 percent during the same period to $139,450.

The number of new listings coming onto the market in May dropped 10.7 percent from a year ago to 5,142 units. Home owners are waiting for foreclosures to work their way out of the market and for better financing conditions before listing their homes for sale, Kelley said.

Association statistics are based on data collected through the MLS and do not necessarily account for new homes sold by local builders and other transactions not involving a Realtor.

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.