Silverado home sales up in September

Home News Staff

Friday, Oct. 24, 2008 | midnight

Home sales in the valley increased again in September as the price of many existing homes remains lower than in previous months and years, according to the most recent report from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.

New and existing home sales in the Silverado area increased last month from August while the median price dropped, according to statistics from the Realtors' association. The Silverado area had 192 new and existing homes sold in September at a median price of $214,750. The median price is down from $225,000 on 151 properties sold in August compared to $248,000 on 62 homes sold in January.

Bank-owned properties continue to drag down the prices and accounted for about two-thirds of all homes and condos sold valleywide in September, association President Patty Kelley said in a statement.

In Southern Nevada, sales were up 181.1 percent over the same month last year while the median price dropped 31 percent from the same period.

The number of homes sold last month was 2,783, an increase of 9.4 percent from August when 2,545 homes sold.

Just 990 homes sold in September 2007.

The median price of a single-family home sold in the Las Vegas area decreased by 7.1 percent from $210,000 in August to $195,000 in September. That's down 31.8 percent from September of 2007.

It's not clear if the local housing market has hit the bottom, but Kelley said history shows these prices won't last forever. And the number of available homes declined .3 percent in September. The inventory of homes is down 5.9 percent from last September.