Home supply reaches record

The inventory of single-family homes available for sale in Las Vegas climbed to a record 23,642 in June, topping the previous peak of 23,474 in October, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported Monday.

The number rose 2.6 percent from May and 18.1 percent from the same month a year ago.

"This is to be expected, especially in the summer months, when more people are on the move," said Devin Reiss, president of the Realtors association. "We see this as another sign that sellers should be more realistic about the time their home can spend on the market."

The median price rose 1.2 percent from the previous month to $305,000 although it's still down $10,000, or 3.2 percent, from last year.

"The slight increase in the median price is an indication that sellers may be able to get their asking price if they want to hold out. But, if they are serious about moving the property, they should price it accordingly," Reiss said.

GLVAR statistics are based on data collected through the Multiple Listing Service and do not necessarily account for new homes sold by builders and other transactions not involving a Realtor.

The number of condos and townhomes for sale was 6,263, down 1.3 percent from May. However, it's an increase of 35.3 percent from a year ago. The median price of $194,250 is up 2.2 percent from May and down 5.2 percent from June 2006.

There were 1,476 single-family home sales in June, down 5.9 percent from May and down 41.6 from a year ago. Condos and townhome sales dropped to 344, compared with 373 in May.

Dollar volume of homes sold through the MLS translated into more than $712 million, a 1.4 percent increase from last month and 35 percent decrease from last year.

Nearly 53 percent of all single-family homes and 48.5 percent of all condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.

"I thought June would be up just a bit from May, but it was down," Debi Averett of Phoenix-based Housingdoom.com said. "June is usually about as busy as it gets for Las Vegas home sales, so I expect things to pretty much be downhill from here for the rest of the year. The supply of single-family homes is up to 16 months, so it's going to be a while before things look better."