Local housing market is different than national

Q: As a homeowner, I'm a bit confused by all the numbers and stories I hear about what's happening in the housing market. One TV station tells me home prices and sales are going down. Another one seems to say something else. What's really happening with real estate here in Las Vegas? -- Mike L., Las Vegas

A: There's so much news out there about the housing market locally and nationally that I can't blame you for being confused.

I think some of the confusion I hear from clients, contacts and even members of the media here in Southern Nevada relates to the differences we're seeing between what's happening here and nationally.

For example, a couple of weeks ago, the National Association of Realtors made news by announcing national statistics that showed sales of existing single-family homes nationwide dropping by about 3 percent in October compared to September. The number of existing single-family homes sold nationwide in October was 4.43 million, roughly the same as it was last October.

At the same time, NAR reported that the median price of an existing single-family home nationwide is now $181,800. That's down 11.2 percent from the same time one year ago. (The median price is where half of all homes sold for more than that price and half sold for less.)

As you may have heard, things are different here in Southern Nevada, where prices may be slipping, but home sales are soaring.

Local statistics from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors show a dramatic increase in the number of local homes sold in October compared to one year ago. In October, GLVAR reported 2,718 sales of existing single-family homes increasing 179.1 percent, compared to October 2007. This follows a similar year-over-year sales increase of 181 percent in September.

Meanwhile, GLVAR reported that the median price of existing single-family homes being sold in Southern Nevada continued to decline in October, dropping 30.8 percent from $274,725 in October 2007 to $190,000 now.

On a month-to-month basis, the median price went down a bit less here than it did nationally, with median prices in the Las Vegas area decreasing by 2.6 percent from September to October.

As in the rest of the country, bank-owned homes are having a huge impact on the housing market here in Southern Nevada. GLVAR finds that at least two of every three homes being sold here today are owned by banks. This has been the case for some time now. Many of these real estate-owned homes are being sold at bargain prices, often for less than it would cost to build that same home today.

At the GLVAR, we see these bargain prices fueling the dramatic increase we're seeing in home sales each month. People are finally realizing it's a great time to buy a home and that prices and selection can't get much better than they are now.

Some local experts look at these sales statistics as an indication that the housing market here may be closer to correcting itself than almost any other area of the country. I'd like to think that's the case and that we'll see prices stabilize in the next year or so as the demand for housing continues to catch up to the supply.

Patty Kelley is the president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. To ask Kelley a question, e-mail her at ask@glvar.org. For more information, visit www.lasvegasrealtor.com.