GLVAR reports higher home sales in March

The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported a double-digit increase in home sales in March, the third monthly increase in a row.

Statistics show that sales increased by nearly 35 percent, while local home prices decreased slightly for single-family homes sold in March as the sale of bank-owned properties continued to impact the market.

"We are cautiously optimistic about what the GLVAR statistics indicate this month about the state of the local real estate market," GLVAR President Patty Kelley said. "We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. While local home prices are still declining, we don't anticipate that prices can get much lower because homes are now selling for less than what it would cost to build that same home today."

Kelley also said that bank-owned properties and short-sales continue to have a noticeable effect on the local market, contributing to the decline in median home prices.

"These types of properties accounted for 52.3 percent, or 773 of the 1,478 homes sold in March. There are still great opportunities to purchase these types of properties. People who are serious about buying should act fast, since these bargains won't be around forever. In fact, some analysts are predicting the bottom of the market to hit as early as later this year."

The latest GLVAR statistics include activity through the end of March. The association distributes 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. Highlights of the latest report include the following:

-- The total number of local single-family homes sold in March was 1,478. That's up 34.6 percent from 1,098 homes sold in February. For condos and townhomes, 198 were sold in March, up 19.3 from 166 sales in February and down 41.9 percent from March 2007.

-- The median price of a single-family home sold in the Las Vegas area decreased by 1.4 percent from $246,500 in February to $243,169 in March. That's down 20.3 percent from a year earlier.

-- For condos and townhomes, the median sales price increased 8.7 percent from $150,000 in February to $163,000 in March. That's down 18.5 percent from March 2007.

-- The number of local homes listed for sale through March rose 1.2 percent for single-family homes, with 22,763 homes listed for sale, compared to 22,497 homes listed for sale in February. That's up 6.9 percent from last March.

-- The number of condos and townhomes listed for sale declined 0.1 percent from 5,380 in February to 5,373 in March. That's a decrease of 10.4 percent from last March.

Kelley said that local real estate transactions tracked through the MLS during March totaled more than $450 million of sales volume, up 38 percent from last month.

Through March, 47.3 percent of all single-family homes and 52 percent of all condos and townhomes sold within 60 days, she said.