Las Vegas home sales pass foreclosures

Traditional home sales in Las Vegas exceeded foreclosures in January for the first time since June 2008, Las Vegas-based SalesTraq reported Tuesday.

However, the majority of sales are still "distressed," including short sales, or homes sold for less than the mortgage balance, SalesTraq President Larry Murphy said.

The local housing market research firm showed 3,429 existing-home sales in January, a 24.1 percent increase from the same month a year ago.

"It's good, but over half were distressed sales, and that's going to keep a lid on prices," Murphy said. "Existing prices have languished between $120,000 and $125,000, and it's probably going to stay there for the rest of this year as long as a majority of sales are distressed sales."

About 47 percent of existing sales were bank-owned homes, with a median price of $115,000. The remaining 53 percent were "traditional" sales, with a median price of $125,000.

Overall, the existing median price dropped 20 percent from a year ago to $120,000 but has been around that level since April.

Home Builders Research of Las Vegas reported 240 new-home sales in January, down 16 percent from a year ago. The median new-home price fell 14.3 percent to $200,716, a decrease of $33,457 from a year ago.

The new year started off pretty much as expected, housing analyst Dennis Smith of Home Builders Research said. January's new-home data reflect a lull from the rush to close escrow on homes in 2009, he said.

"The Las Vegas new-home housing industry is what it is -- a crippled major component of our struggling economy," he said.

The new-home building industry is nearly at a standstill, using government assistance programs as a "crutch" to sustain a presence in Las Vegas, Smith said.

He counted 380 new-home permits in January. That number hasn't topped 500 since July 2008.

The resale segment has been the "main engine" of the residential real estate market for the past 12 months, Smith said. There were 3,111 resales in January, compared with 2,536 a year ago, he reported.

New-home sales accounted for 10.5 percent of all escrow closings in 2009, compared with 41 percent in 2000.

"That's quite a change," Smith said.

Tim Kelly Kiernan of ReMax Pros in Las Vegas said prices have leveled off but probably will continue to decrease slightly. They vary among ZIP codes and among subdivisions, depending on the property's condition, he said.

Kiernan said he's alarmed by the 9,563 trustee sales in January, or homes that have transferred deed of ownership to the bank. Even more alarming are the 130,000 trustee sales in 2009, he said.

Not all of them go to foreclosure. Some are canceled, some are postponed, others are sold to third-party investors. Many of them are being held by the banks but will eventually be released onto the Multiple Listing Service, Kiernan said.

"Banks are making positive strides in the area of short sales with the hope of avoiding having to sell these properties in foreclosure," he said.

Murphy of SalesTraq reported 1,351 real estate-owned, or bank-owned, acquisitions in January, compared with 2,367 in January 2009. REO dispositions totaled 1,628 in January, compared with 1,789 a year ago, bringing REO inventory down to 10,264 from more than 16,000 a year ago.

"What I see is more of the same old data," Murphy said. "We're right on schedule for 24,000, 25,000 foreclosures in 2010."

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