GLVAR reports local home prices, inventory increasing

Housing statistics released by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors showed local home prices increased for the second straight month.

GLVAR President and longtime local Realtor Rick Shelton said he was encouraged to see the median single-family home price in Southern Nevada during May match April’s $142,000. That was a 1.4 percent increase from May 2009, marking the second straight month GLVAR reported a year-over-year increase in local home prices, after seeing prices fall since February 2007.

The median price of local condominiums and townhomes sold in May also increased, up 2.9 percent from the previous month and up 10.8 percent from the previous year.

“I think most homeowners consider stable or appreciating home prices to be good news, especially considering the way the housing market has been the past few years,” Shelton said.

“With prices stabilizing, we’re starting to see more homes on the market. As long as the demand stays as strong as it has been for the past year or so, I think we can sell those homes in a reasonable amount of time.”

Shelton said the total number of homes listed for sale and the number of homes listed without any sort of pending offer all increased in May compared to April.

The total number of local single-family homes sold in May was 2,884. That’s down 2.3 percent from 2,951 in April and down 11.4 percent from May 2009.

The total number of condos and townhomes sold in May was 769, down 2.3 percent from 787 sales in April, but still up 4.3 percent from 737 such sales one year ago.

The value of local real estate transactions tracked through the MLS during May decreased 3.8 percent for single-family homes, from more than $511 million in April to nearly $492 million in May. For condo and townhome sales, the total value of all sales increased 0.1 percent, barely topping the nearly $71 million in April sales. Compared to one year ago, total sales volumes in May were down 12.5 percent for homes, but up 14.5 percent for condo and townhome properties.

As in past months, GLVAR reported an increase in short sales and decrease 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 and to 29 percent in May. At the same time, Shelton said bank-owned homes are accounting for a decreasing percentage of all local home sales, dropping from 53.0 percent in February to 50.0 percent in March to 43.0 percent in April to 40.0 percent in May. Shelton attributed this trend to government programs “gaining traction” and to lenders gradually being more willing to work out short sales as an alternative to foreclosing on homes.

Shelton said the percentage of local homes being purchased with cash appears to have peaked at just below 50 percent a few months ago. That cash buyer percentage slipped from 43.3 percent of all sales in April to 42.6 percent in May.

According to the GLVAR, the total number of local homes, condominiums and townhomes sold in May was 3,653. That’s down from 3,738 total sales in April and down from 3,992 one year ago.

As for inventory, by the end of May, GLVAR reported 8,049 single-family homes listed for sale without any sort of pending or contingent offers and another 2,428 such condos and townhomes. That’s up 11.7 percent for homes and 6.6 percent for condos compared to April.

As for the larger, or gross, number of listings on GLVAR’s Multiple Listing Service, GLVAR reported a total of 21,143 single-family homes listed for sale at the end of May. That’s up 1.3 percent from 20,875 single-family homes listed for sale at the end of April, but down 0.2 percent from 21,181 homes listed one year ago.

GLVAR reported 5,907 condos and townhomes listed for sale on its MLS at the end of May. That’s up 2.7 percent from 5,750 condos and townhomes listed at the end of April, and up 6.0 percent from 5,572 such listings one year ago.

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

Through May, 67.1 percent of all single-family homes and 71.3 percent of all condos and townhomes sold within 60 days. That compares to April, when 68 percent of all local single-family homes and 68.9 percent of all condos and townhomes sold within 60 days. Homes are still selling faster than they did one year ago, when 61.8 percent of all single-family homes and 55.5 percent of all condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.

For more information, visit lasvegasrealtor.com.