Real estate professionals in Nevada are more pessimistic about the future of the home prices in the in the coming months, expecting them to continue to decline, according to a survey conducted by HomeGain, a California research and marketing company.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 | 7:20 a.m.
In yet another gloomy report on the Southern Nevada economy, credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s today said Las Vegas-area home prices fell in May for the eighth consecutive month.
According to the widely-followed Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, which tracks 20 big U.S. markets, Las Vegas home prices are now 59.3 percent below their peak during the economic boom of 2005-2006.
Today’s report said Las Vegas prices fell 0.9 percent from April to May and were down 6.6 percent from May 2010.
The monthly decline of 0.9 percent was on both a seasonally adjusted and non-seasonally adjusted basis.
With the deep recession continuing locally, Las Vegas home prices have been depressed by high unemployment (13.8 percent) and resulting foreclosures.
Despite recent declines in foreclosure filings, Nevada still leads the nation in the percentage of homeowners losing their homes.
Today’s numbers compare to statistics locally for June from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.
The Realtors reported that the median price of a single-family home sold in June locally was $124,500, down 1.2 percent from $126,000 in May and down 11.1 percent from one year ago.
Nationwide, Standard & Poor’s said prices for its 20-city composite index rose 1 percent from April to May, but were down 4.5 percent from May 2010.
“We see some seasonal improvements with May’s data,” David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices, said in a statement. “This is a seasonal period of stronger demand for houses, so monthly price increases are to be expected and were seen in 16 of the 20 cities. The exceptions where prices fell were Detroit, Las Vegas and Tampa.
"However, 19 of 20 cities saw prices drop over the last 12 months. The concern is that much of the monthly gains are only seasonal,’" he said.
With new home starts up moderately in June, existing home sales flat and banks tightening mortgage lending standards, "these data all support a continuation of the ‘bounce-along-the-bottom’ scenario we have witnessed in the housing market over the past two years," Blitzer said in his statement.
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