Listed home prices tumbling across U.S., especially in LV

The average listed home price was reduced 10.6 percent nationwide, with larger drops coming in areas hardest hit by foreclosures such as Detroit, Las Vegas and Miami, a San Francisco-based real estate search firm reported Friday.

That's encouraging news for prospective buyers as $27.4 billion was slashed from the price of homes for sale across America, including $156 million in Las Vegas, said Ken Shuman, spokesman for Trulia Inc., a San Francisco-based real estate search engine company.

Las Vegas ranks second to Detroit with a 16 percent listing price reduction, from an average of $330,870 to $276,780. List prices in Detroit were cut 23 percent to $62,110, Trulia reported.

Thirty percent of all property listings in Las Vegas have experienced at least one price reduction in the past 12 months, well above the national average of 23.6 percent.

"One of the interesting things about the Las Vegas data is people were talking about an inflated condo boom that created too much inventory," Shuman said, "yet only 22 percent of condos had at least one price reduction versus 32 percent of single-family homes."

Thirty-five percent of homes listed at more than $150,000 dropped their prices at least once, compared with 23 percent of homes priced under $150,000.

Trulia's data did not include foreclosure listings on the market because banks are setting the price and they seldom have any price reductions, Shuman said.

Sellers in Las Vegas realize the market is in the toilet and have been steadily reducing prices, said Sue Naumann, president of Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.

"The most important thing in marketing a property is price it well," she said. "I counsel my sellers to look at what percentage prices are declining at and you either price it to sell today or you'll hold on to it for a while."

Naumann said she evaluates the market regularly during the listing and adjusts prices accordingly. Sometimes she adjusts the price upward.

"You never know. Everybody wants to get some kind of deal," she said. "The seller wants to maximize what he's getting for the property. Sometimes a deal is not just monetary. There could be some concessions. The seller pays closing costs or a portion of closing costs or offers an appliance package."

Trulia obtained its listing information from real estate brokers, agents, third-party individuals and Multiple Listing Services. The percentage of listings with price reductions includes any property on Trulia not in foreclosure that experienced at least one price reduction since it was first posted on the site.

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