Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

THE ECONOMY:

Report: Real estate rebound seen as 2009 came to end

Year in Review

Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun file

Houses sprawl across the Las Vegas Valley. When the housing bubble burst in 2007, Las Vegas became the No. 1 area in foreclosures nationwide.

Existing home sales in Las Vegas rose 57 percent in 2009, but builders sold fewer than half as many homes compared to 2008, according to statistics released Tuesday.

SalesTraq reported that that demand for existing homes remained strong in December with the 4,502 sales the third highest-selling month in 2009, pushing the annual total to 48,075 – the third highest in the valley’s history. That is more than 16,000 sales compared to 2008 as the existing home market continues its rebound.

Median prices fell by $5,000 in December to $120,000. At the peak of the market in 2006, prices nearly reached $290,000. That’s a 58 percent drop.

Existing home prices have held fairly steady in Las Vegas since April, falling in a range of $120,000 to $125,000, according to SalesTraq.

The demand for existing homes continues to decrease the inventory with 10,262 available listings on the Multiple Listing Service at the end of December, translating into a 2.6-month supply. SalesTraq reported that’s the second lowest level of inventory since March 2005.

The amount of foreclosed-upon homes continues to decline. Only 51 percent of the 4,502 existing home sales in December were banked-owned, SalesTraq reported. Foreclosures had been two-thirds of sales at one time.

The number of foreclosure homes dipped 5 percent in 2009 to 24,033. In 2008, lenders foreclosed on 25,276 homes. That meant the level of foreclosure inventory slid to 11,248 in December, the lowest level since March 2008, SalesTraq reported.

Analysts attribute the decline to lenders' self-imposed moratorium in early 2009 and Nevada’s new program implemented July 1 that gives homeowners the option to seek mediation with lenders and modify their loans.

Las Vegas closed 2009 with 517 new home sales in December, the second-highest month last year. For the year, the 5,184 sales fell 48 percent below the 9,965 sales recorded in 2008.

Steve Bottfeld, executive vice president of Marketing Solutions, said he sees a positive trend for the new-home market because the fourth quarter accounted for nearly 31 percent of the annual sales.

Some analysts said a lack of existing home inventory led people to consider new homes at the end of the year to take advantage of a first-time homebuyer tax credit that was set to expire Nov. 30. Congress has extended it through June.

New home prices rebounded slightly in December to $210,000, up from $198,466 in November. The only time new home prices surpassed $220,000 was January 2009 when it was $231,035, SalesTraq reported.

Despite the increase in price in December, the price per square foot dropped to $105.32 in builders’ bids to construct smaller homes, analysts said. The price per square foot was at its 2009 height in January when it was $122.15, SalesTraq reported.

Builders, however, haven’t rushed out to take out permits to construct new homes. Local governments issued 349 permits in December to bring the yearly total to 3,766. That is 32 percent lower than the 5,551 permits issued in 2008.

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