Cash deals make up half of Las Vegas home sales

By Buck Wargo

Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010 | 1:31 p.m.

Cash continues to be king when it comes to buying a home in Las Vegas.

Research firm MDA DataQuick reported that cash buyers accounted for 50 percent of all home purchases in January, up from 39 percent in January 2009.

Investors and second-home buyers comprised 43 percent of the home purchases in January, up from 34 percent in January 2009, the firm reported. The median price paid in the all-cash deals in January was $96,000.

Overall, investors and second-home buyers paid a median price of $101,000 for their homes, down from $109,836 in December and $125,000 in January 2009, said DataQuick spokesman Andrew LePage.

A strong demand for condos and homes priced under $200,000 pushed January’s sales of new and existing homes to 3,367, the most since January 2007, the firm reported. The sales of homes priced below $200,000 made up 79 percent of sales compared to 66 percent in January 2009.

In the existing home market, the 3,092 sales, while down 35 percent from December, were 7 percent higher than January 2009 and the most since 3,405 in January 2006. Sales of existing homes have risen year-over-year for 21 straight months, LePage said.

Sales of new homes, including condos and condo conversions, fell to 275 in January, down 54 percent from December but 10 percent higher than January 2009. It was the second-slowest January for new-home sales since 1994, LePage said.

The median price paid for all new and existing homes sold in January was $125,750, down 2.5 percent from $129,000 in December and down 21 percent from $159,000 in January 2009.

The overall median price has fallen year-over-year for 33 consecutive months and in January was 59.7 percent below its peak of $312,000 in June 2006, LePage said.

The median price paid for existing single-family homes in January held at $135,000, the same as it had been since October.

The median price paid in January for existing condos was $69,000, which is in the same range over the last nine months. The median price is 66 percent below its peak of $203,000 in July 2006, LePage said.