On the market: Realtor Gisella Massone of Coldwell Banker Premier, left, shows a home Dec. 4 to client Brenda Olson in the Tournament Hills community in Summerlin, which has been hit by a much lower decline in home values than in areas surrounding downtown Las Vegas.
Friday, Dec. 11, 2009 | 3 a.m.
Las Vegas home prices have stabilized in recent months, but 12 ZIP codes in the valley reported more than a 50 percent drop in prices during the third quarter compared with 2008’s third quarter, according to a real estate information firm.
MDA DataQuick of San Diego reported that prices of resale homes, condos and new homes in Clark County fell 39.5 percent to $130,000 in the third quarter compared with the third quarter of 2008.
DataQuick’s report is bleaker than statistics released this week by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors that show home prices have been stabilizing in recent months.
Prices edged up slightly, according to the Realtors’ group. The median price of homes sold in November was $140,000, about $900 higher than October. The median price was $138,000 in September.
The group, which tracks sales of homes sold through the Multiple Listing Service, reports home prices are down 25 percent from November 2008.
“It tells me, for the time being anyway, that the effect of the foreclosures has matured to the point that even though they haven’t stopped, we are absorbing them at a rate that is approximately equal to the rate they are coming on the market,” said Larry Murphy, president of SalesTraq, which monitors the Las Vegas housing market. “It is another definition of stability, but I wouldn’t say we are out of the woods yet.”
Murphy said he’s closely tracking reports of delinquencies, and he is concerned that more homeowners are late on their mortgage payments than a year ago. He said he is predicting foreclosures in 2010 will mirror the approximately 25,000 expected this year, but he admits he could be wrong.
“I am leaving the door open that we can have an increase in foreclosures,” Murphy said. “I am not discounting that possibility one minute. If that happens, our world could turn a darker shade of brown. That would mean we are not completely stabilized and not at the bottom of the cycle.”
A drop in prices would be a reflection of the weak economy and high unemployment rate triggering more foreclosures, he said.
“That would mean the recovery has stalled,” Murphy said.
DataQuick numbers
Lower prices over the past year have spurred sales. The 15,032 sales were 19.2 percent higher during the third quarter compared with the same period last year, according to DataQuick.
In the third quarter, the biggest price drops were in Las Vegas or unincorporated Clark County.
Many occurred in and surrounding downtown Las Vegas. ZIP code 89101 fell 59 percent; 89102 was down 53 percent and 89104 dropped 52 percent.
The biggest percentage decline was the area that includes much of the Strip and Las Vegas Country Club. It fell 70 percent to a median price of $180,000.
Henderson had only one of its eight ZIP codes, 89011, record a price drop of greater than 40 percent. It was 43.4 percent. The area includes Lake Las Vegas, Tuscany Hills and Calico Ridge,
North Las Vegas had one of its seven ZIP codes with a price drop of greater than 50 percent: 89030 in the downtown area. It fell 56 percent to $40,000, by far the lowest price of any area.
Only one ZIP code in Clark County had a gain.
Mesquite, where Del Webb is developing Sun City Mesquite, saw the median price of homes sold in the third quarter rise 6 percent to $257,990. Despite the increase in median prices, sales were weak — down 67 percent from the third quarter of 2008.
Boulder City had one of the smallest drops in the region with its price falling 12 percent to $230,000.
Realtors’ numbers
Demand for homes and condos tends to soften in November, December and January because of the holidays, but sales last month eclipsed those of November 2008.
The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported 3,117 sales of new homes in November, a 43 percent increase over November 2008. The 726 condo and town house sales in Southern Nevada were 85 percent higher than November 2008.
Compared with October, however, sales of homes fell by 12 percent, and sales of condos and town houses fell by 15 percent.
Despite the slowdown, Realtor President Sue Naumann said the extension of an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers and the creation of a $6,500 tax credit for other buyers should spur sales in 2010.
Investors and first-time buyers dominate the sales market, according to the group.
The percentage of homes purchased with cash in November was 41 percent, nearly matching October, Naumann said. Many investors rely on cash deals.
The number of sales of foreclosed homes dropped, a reflection of the market’s limited supply, analysts said. The Realtors’ group reported 61 percent of all sales in November were bank-owned properties, down from 64.5 percent in October.
The group reported 8,385 homes were listed for sale without offers on them at the end of November, a 4 percent increase over October. In total, 20,847 homes were on the Multiple Listing Servie at the end of November, about a 1 percent decline from October. Listings are 8 percent lower than in November 2008.
The median price of all homes on the service was $150,000 in November, the same as October.
The median price of those homes without offers was $179,000. That number indicates that buyers gravitate toward lower-priced homes, analysts said.
The number of new homes listed in November was 4,039, a 26 percent decline from October. The median price of those homes was $144,900, the same as October.
Sellers are reluctant to list homes during the holidays, analysts say.
Condo prices fell 2.9 percent in November to $68,000. Those prices are 25 percent below where they were in November 2008.
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