Homes for sale in May near record in Southern Nevada

The number of homes listed for sale in Southern Nevada topped 23,000 in May, just shy of the record 23,474 single-family homes for sales in October, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported Thursday.

The median price of a single-family home decreased 2.8 percent from a year ago to $301,352, based on 1,568 recorded sales during the month. Sales are down 38.7 percent.

"As we've been saying, we don't expect to see any dramatic changes to these numbers in the next several months," Realtors' association president Devin Reiss said. "Inventory continues to trend upward, which tells us, among other things, that sellers need to be more realistic when pricing their homes. There are an increasing number of bargains out there for buyers, but they need to make sure they are making reasonable offers."

Frank Nason of Residential Resources said about half of the homes for sale are empty, probably owned by investors who can't sell or rent them. Most will probably show up as foreclosures or short sales, he said. A short sale happens when a lender sells a property for less than what is owed on it.

Nevada leads the nation in foreclosure filings per household and the market remains saturated with investors, Julie Brown of Keller-Williams Realty said.

"I showed 10 houses Saturday and all of them were bank-owned and vacant, and I'm talking within a two-mile radius," she said.

Despite the high foreclosure rate and lagging sales in Las Vegas, median prices haven't plummeted by 30 percent as a University of California, Los Angeles research center economist predicted four years running.

"I'll tell you, banks have got to be competitive," Brown said. "They can't drop the price. When banks have a gluttony of repos, they have to hold some sort of value for the community. It's a fine line."

A flier distributed in the neighborhood of Decatur Boulevard and Washington Avenue advertised a four-bedroom, two-bath house for auction by owner at $149,500 or best reasonable offer. "Home will be sold Sunday night to highest bidder," the flier said.

Median prices would probably be down 5 percent to 6 percent if closing costs that are often paid by the seller are factored in, Brown said.

Some sellers face additional obstacles. The homeowners association at Southern Highlands Country Club forbids any "For Sale" signs in the yard or open house signs unless they're with Southern Highlands Realty, which is owned by the developer, Brown said.

The number of condos and townhomes listed for sale in May increased to 6,343, up nearly 50 percent from a year ago and an all-time peak for that residential segment. There were 373 sales, down 38.3 percent. Median sales price dropped 5.9 percent to $189,999.

Real estate transactions generated more than $624 million of sales volume in May, a decrease of 34.6 percent from last year. Nearly 53 percent of all single-family homes and 49.4 percent of condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.

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