Housing shows signs of recovery

The Las Vegas housing market showed improvement in almost every category in September, including a $3,500 increase in the median existing-home price from the previous month, Las Vegas-based SalesTraq reported Wednesday.

The median price has bounced between $120,000 and $125,000 over the past six months, rising to $123,500 in September. It's still down 33.7 percent from the same month a year ago.

Existing-home sales rose to 4,311 in September, the sixth consecutive month above 4,000 and a 32.5 percent increase from a year ago.

"I've always said that at some time we'd look back over our shoulder and see that the bottom hit in the second quarter," SalesTraq President Larry Murphy said.

New-home sales, which have plunged in the past year, increased to 459 in September from 429 the previous month. They're down 51.2 percent from a year ago. The median new-home price is $210,877, down from $211,350 in August.

New-home permits dropped to 407 in September, down 20 permits from the previous month and a 7.1 percent decrease from a year ago.

Murphy said he doesn't see the second "tsunami" of foreclosures hitting Las Vegas as many analysts have predicted. Some estimate that 20,000 to 30,000 real estate-owned, or bank-owned, homes are coming down the pike here.

Murphy is reporting an increasing number of short sales, or homes sold for less than the mortgage balance owed. The median price for a short sale is $150,000, compared with $116,900 for foreclosures, he said.

"Put your banking hat on for a minute. If I want to maximize the sales price for a home I'm considering foreclosing on, maybe I should consider leaving the homeowner in the home and selling it in a short sale," Murphy said. "The short sale (price) of $150,000 to me speaks volumes on what the banks should be doing."

Ken Perlman of San Diego-based Sullivan Group Real Estate Advisors said more investors are coming to Las Vegas and making multiple cash offers on homes, beating out would-be owner-occupants who need financing.

He's heard stories about investors such as Montecito Cos. of Las Vegas buying hundreds of foreclosure homes, but he's not seeing that.

"I do get concerned about that inventory coming back onto the market," Perlman said. "They're not investor flippers these days. They're buying rental properties for cash flow and fixing them up."

Perlman said two demographic groups will drive home sales in Las Vegas. One is the 40 million to 50 million baby boomers looking for "active adult" communities. The other is the Generation Y population, born as early as 1978, who haven't had their savings wiped out and who qualify for the first-time homebuyer tax credit.

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.