Local home sales up, prices down

Existing-home sales in Las Vegas increased 4.5 percent in February and median prices fell 12.8 percent from the same month a year ago, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported.

February's 2,390 single-family home sales are "fairly solid" for what is traditionally a slow time of the year, Realtors association president Rick Shelton said Tuesday.

Nearly half of those sales were cash-only transactions, suggesting a return of heavy investor activity in Las Vegas. The median price was $135,694, up 0.6 percent from $134,925 the previous month.

Local housing analysts have said that the housing market this year will look very much like it did in 2009 and Shelton said he tends to agree.

"When you see our home prices staying fairly flat and sales still going up substantially from one year ago, that's not bad," he said. "We'll take it. 2010 will be the year of the price shift."

The inventory of homes listed for sale dropped 8.5 percent from a year ago to 20,262, the Realtors group reported. Excluding pending and contingent sales contracts, the number of units available without offers dropped to 7,974.

Shelton said Southern Nevada has about a three-month supply of inventory and could benefit from an increased supply. Buyers are looking for more selection, he said.

Lisa Magness of Realty One Group said her clients' offers are stacked up against multiple bids and she's never had the first contract accepted for any of them. It usually takes five or six contract offers -- cash or financed -- to get one accepted, she said.

"Don't think you're going to get that house for list price because you're not," Magness said. "I had a guy say he wouldn't go over list price. He's going to have to bid over or he won't get it."

Magness said her "biggest beef" is with Zillow.com and other sources that report 40,000 listings in Las Vegas. There are more homes pending sale than available, she said.

"Everybody sees that national stuff and wants to come to Vegas and see 40,000 listings and I say, 'Where?'" Magness said. ""In spite of the fact that people think Las Vegas is falling off the cliff, this is still a great city to live in. We're not shoveling snow, we don't have mud falling on us from the hills, no state income tax."

Shelton said he saw positive developments such as an increase in short sales, or homes sold for less than the mortgage balance owed, and a decrease in foreclosure sales. The percentage of short sales increased to 22 percent in February, while bank-owned homes accounted for 53 percent of sales.

Magness reported 10,357 home sales in the past 90 days, including 5,972 bank-owned properties (57.7 percent) and 2,201 short sales (21.3 percent). More than two-thirds of short sale listings are under contract, she said.

The share of homes purchased with cash jumped to 48.7 percent in February, compared with 40.4 percent in December and 45.5 percent in January, the Realtors group reported.

Shelton said it's a "mixed bag" of investors coming to Las Vegas, including international buyers. While past investors were "flippers" looking to make a quick-sale profit, today's investors are "bottom-feeders" absorbing the exaggerated low end of the market, he said.

There were 685 condominium and townhome sales in February, up 55 percent from a year ago. The median price dropped 13.3 percent to $65,000.

Statistics from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors are based on data collected from the Multiple Listing Service and do not necessarily account for sale by owners, homebuilders and transactions not involving a Realtor.

Las Vegas showed a
16 percent average reduction in February's listing price, San Francisco-based real estate Web site Trulia.com reported. The reductions totaled $91.6 million. Homes in the million-dollar segment saw significantly larger discounts, including 18 percent off original listing prices in Las Vegas.

"As we get closer to the government incentives running out (April 30 deadline), we expect price reductions to increase as sellers begin to feel the pressure to lure buyers in," Trulia Chief Executive Officer Pete Flint said.

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