Report shows continued decline in housing prices

October showed a continued decrease in housing prices, seasonal declines in inventory and growing weakness in the markets most impacted by the bubble bursting three years ago, Mountain View, Calif.-based Altos Research reported.

The Altos 10-City Composite declined 1.6 percent in October to $458,518 and is off by more than 3 percent for the last three months.

Home prices fell in 25 of the 26 markets covered in the report, most notably in San Diego (-3.28 percent), Salt Lake City (-3.27 percent) and Phoenix (-3.11 percent).

The report showed Las Vegas with a home price of $152,641 in October, a decrease of 1.55 percent from September. It's down 2.58 percent for the last three months.

"Vegas isn't declining too steeply because it already has," Altos Research spokesman Scott Sambucci said. "At this point, I'd say Vegas should take any stability in prices occurring in concert with rising inventory as a huge positive. If prices can hang on -- relatively speaking -- while inventory grows, that's a good thing because usually more supply at fixed demand leads to lower prices."

Las Vegas, San Diego and Phoenix were the only three cities to show an increase in inventory for October. Listings grew to 23,082 in Las Vegas, up from 22,749 in September and 22,400 in August.

Sambucci said the banks' foreclosure moratorium in 23 states will have some effect on pricing, but it's more of a "hiccup" than anything.

"Down the road, I suspect we'll look at housing trends and foreclosure trends, see a little jog in the trend line and say 'Oh yeah, that's when the banks had the foreclosure paperwork thing,' " he said.

"If you're a glass-half-full guy, you might say the worst of the price declines are behind us. Based on what we're seeing, I'd say Vegas is reaching the bottom, but it's going to be there for an extended period of time. Major economic problems there -- population rates slowing, oversupply -- it's going to be a while," Sambucci said.

The Altos 10-City Composite is based on single-family homes in Boston; Chicago; New York: Los Angeles; San Diego; San Francisco; Miami; Las Vegas; Washington, D.C.; and Denver.

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