GLVAR reports inventory increase, decrease in median housing price

The number of homes listed for sale in Southern Nevada increased again in May, while the median price of a single-family home decreased, according to statistics released this week by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors (GLVAR).

"As we've been saying, we don't expect to see any dramatic changes to these numbers in the next several months," said Devin Reiss, president of the GLVAR.

"Inventory continues to trend upward, which tells us, among other things, that sellers need to be more realistic when pricing their homes.

There are an increasing number of bargains out there for buyers, but they need to make sure they are making reasonable offers."

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

The association distributes such statistics each month based on data collected through its Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which does not necessarily account for newly constructed 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 $301,352. That's down 1.2 percent from $305,000 last month and down 2.8 percent from $310,000 last year.

-- For local condos and townhomes, the median sales price in May decreased to $189,999. That's a decrease of 5.9 percent from $202,000 last month, which matches the median price from May 2006.

-- The number of local homes, condos and townhouses listed for sale through May increased again.

For single-family homes, the GLVAR reported 23,042 homes listed for sale. That's up 3.6 percent from April, when listings were 22,242. That's also up 20.4 percent from May 2006, when 19,132 homes were listed for sale.

Reiss noted that the number of single-family homes listed for sale in Southern Nevada has not reached the all-time peak set last October, when 23,474 homes were listed for sale in the MLS.

The number of condos and townhomes listed for sale in May increased to 6,343. That's up 2.7 percent from April and up 49.1 percent from 4,253 in May of 2006.

This is an all-time peak for condo and townhome inventory.

The previous record was set in October 2006 when there were 6,261 units for sale.

The total number of local homes sold in May was 1,568, up 13.5 percent from 1,381 in April and down 38.7 percent from 2,556 in May 2006. For condos and townhomes, 373 were sold in May, up 26 percent from 296 units sold last month and down 38.3 percent from 605 units sold in May 2006.

Reiss said that these real estate transactions translated into more than $624 million of sales volume in the local market, which is a 16.1 percent increase from last month and a decrease of 34.6 percent from last year.

Through May, 52.7 percent of all single-family homes and 49.4 percent of all condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.

In comparison, 53.6 percent of all single-family homes and 52.7 percent of all condos and townhomes sold within 60 days last month.

GLVAR was founded in 1947 and provides its more than 17,000 local members with education, training and political representation.

The local representative of the National Association of Realtors, GLVAR is the largest professional organization in Southern Nevada. The organization provides training and professional resources to for its members

For more information, visit lasvegasrealtor.com.