LV housing prices flat for June

Alana Roberts

Thursday, July 7, 2005 | 10:54 a.m.

The fact that the June median sales price of a single-family home in the Las Vegas Valley remained at the $300,000 record reached in May is an indication that the housing market is stabilizing, housing market experts said.

The statistics were released Wednesday by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. The median price jumped by 7.1 percent compared to June 2004, and the flat May-to-June comparison followed a 1-percent jump from April to May, from $297,000.

The fact that the median home price has only grown by 1 percent from April to June indicates the market is stabilizing, Myrna Kingham, president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, said.

"This is a good thing, it shows we're stable, we're selling we're not having this crazy rate of appreciation and we're not having a lower rate or a drop," Kingham said. "The homes aren't depreciating."

She said the slower rate of growth this summer compared to last summer doesn't indicate that the housing prices will drop but that they have leveled out. Kingham said that between the second quarter of 2003 and the second quarter of 2004 the median price of homes here in the Las Vegas Valley grew by 52 percent. She said prices grew so drastically at the time because the housing market was simply catching up to where it should have been compared to other areas in the West such as Southern California and Arizona.

"We had a crazy market last summer; this year we're pretty much back on track," Kingham said.

However, John Restrepo, principal at Restrepo Consulting Group LLC, said the $300,000 median price is a cause for concern for those looking for affordable housing.

Restrepo said the fact that that there's plenty of homes available for purchase along with the fact that there are low interest rates on loans to buy homes helps to make home buying a possibility for many. Because of those rates he said housing costs probably won't change drastically any time soon.

"Low interest rates have been favorable to housing affordability," Restrepo said. "A lot of people have been able to afford houses that otherwise wouldn't have."

Kingham said another indicator of market stabilization is the fact that in June a majority of homes, 51.6 percent, were sold in 30 days or less. That number has dropped from the June 2004 percentage of 83.8 percent. She said during that time it was tougher for a home buyer to negotiate because there were so many other buyers out there.

"This year you can negotiate (as) a buyer," Kingham said. "This year it's a good time for a buyer to go out and look for a home."

She added that although the market is now easier on buyers it remains a good time to sell.