Las Vegas homes sales slip in May as prices hold steady

By Buck Wargo

Published Tuesday, June 8, 2010 | 10:09 a.m.

Updated Tuesday, June 8, 2010 | 10:55 a.m.

The end of the homebuyer tax credit curtailed sales in Southern Nevada in May as prices held steady, according to statistics released today by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.

The 2,884 sales of single-family homes were down 2.3 percent from April and 11.4 percent below sales levels in May 2009, according to the GLVAR.

People had until April 30 to have a signed contract to purchase a home and get the $8,000 credit for first-time buyers or $6,500 for move-up buyers. Sales must close by June 30.

The GLVAR reported 8,049 homes were listed without any offers at the end of May, an 11.7 percent increase over April.

The sales of condos and town homes were also lower in May. The 769 sales were down 2.3 percent from April, but 4.3 percent higher than May 2009.

Prices held steady in the home market despite the decline in sales. The GLVAR said the median price was $142,000, the same as April. Condo and town home prices rose 2.9 percent from April to $72,000.

The GLVAR tracks sales of mostly existing homes, but some new-home sales are included on the Multiple Listing Service. Most of the sales tracked are in Clark County but it also includes those in Nye, Lincoln and White Pine counties.

Analysts expected sales to decline after the homebuyer tax credit expired.

One analyst, Steve Bottfeld, executive vice president of Marketing Solutions, said only a slight decline in sales between April and May was a good sign that the housing market is holding up. The stable prices are another plus, he said.

“That is a very strong and powerful positive indication that the market is in recovery,” Bottfeld said.

May’s median price was 1.4 percent higher than May 2009.

GLVAR President Rick Shelton said that continues to be a positive for a market that has seen home prices decline about 60 percent since the peak of the market in 2006.

“With prices stabilizing, we’re starting to see more homes on the market,” Shelton said. “As long as demand stays as strong as it has been for the past year or so, I think we can sell those homes in a reasonable amount of time.”

The 21,143 homes listed at the end of May was 1.3 percent higher than April.

The GLVAR reported short sales continued to increase while foreclosure sales continued to decline. It reported 29 percent of sales were short sales in which banks allow the homeowner to sell their property for less than is owed on the mortgage. It was 22 percent in February.

Foreclosure sales fell to 40 percent of the total in May, down from 53 percent in February.

The number of people using all cash in deals is also declining. It fell to 42.6 percent in May, down from a peak of just below 50 percent earlier this year, Shelton said.