Home prices slide as sales activity stays steady

Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008 | 10:48 a.m.

Sales report

August 2008 sales and price numbers

Sun Archives

Aug. 28 -- Impending foreclosures leave renters in limbo
Aug. 18 -- Report: Vegas home prices at 2003 levels
Aug. 14 -- Nevada’s home foreclosure rate tops nation

Beyond the Sun

Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors

A glut of foreclosed homes in the Las Vegas area is continuing to drive prices lower while buyers snatch up properties at nearly twice the rate of last year.

The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors said 2,545 single-family homes were sold in August, which is up 93.4 percent compared to a year ago. The number of sales was down slightly from July -- less than 2 percent -- ending a seven-month streak of increasing home sales in the Las Vegas area.

But while the number of sales is up from a year ago, the price those homes are fetching continues to slide.

The Realtor association said the median price of single-family homes sold by a Realtor last month was $210,000. That's down from $220,000 in July -- and down 30 percent from August 2007.

In the condo market, the price drops were steeper.

The association reported that 385 condos and townhouses were sold last month, which is up 7.5 percent from July and 35.1 percent compared to last year. The median price of those condos was $123,000 last month, which is down from $135,000 in July and down more than 35 percent compared to a year ago.

The median list price of single-family homes last month was $225,000, meaning sellers got about 93 percent of their asking price.

Patty Kelley, president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, said the the number of homes on the market is declining, although bank-owned properties -- which account for nearly two-thirds of sales -- are dragging down prices.

"What we do know is that, once we sell off this inventory of homes in or nearing foreclosure, home prices will begin to increase," Kelley said in a statement.

The Las Vegas area had 22,710 single-family homes on the market at the end of August, which is down from 23,423 homes a month earlier. Last month's number is down nearly 7 percent from a year ago. There were 5,390 condos and townhomes on the market, which is down nearly 3 percent in the past month and down 13 percent from last year.

At last month's sales pace, the Las Vegas area has a nine-month supply of single-family homes and a 14-month supply of condos and townhouses on the market.

Discussion: 3 comments so far…

By azsk8fan

9/9/08 at 11:10 a.m.

Suggest removal

watch out folks or you'll see California come in start swooping up all the 'cheap' houses as they did once before and as before you will see them drive the prices up again to over-inflated values..history repeats itself? I sure hope not.
By laniac

9/10/08 at 11:35 p.m.

Suggest removal

I am from California. I am planning to do an addiiton to my house. The cost will be over 200k. I said to my contractor, "Maybe I should just go buy a house in Vegas instead for the same money".
By VegasRepos

9/11/08 at 9:24 a.m.

Suggest removal

We already have seen not just California investors but investors from around the country and around the world coming in and snatching up these deals again. With many homes selling for less than replacement cost on sites like http://www.VegasRepos.com it makes sense to buy and wait until the foreclosure crisis ends.