Summerlin home sales down but still strong

Home News staff

Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008 | 12:02 p.m.

Home sales in the valley took their first downturn in 2008 in August but remained relatively strong as the price of existing homes continued downward, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported.

New and existing home sales in the Summerlin area dropped last month from July as the median price remained the same, according to statistics from the Realtors' association. The Summerlin area had 294 new and existing homes sold in August at a median price of $270,000, compared to 322 homes sold in July. The median price is down from $330,000 on 146 homes sold in January.

Bank-owned properties continue to drag down the prices and accounted for about two-thirds of all homes and condos sold valleywide in August, association President Patty Kelley said in a statement.

In Southern Nevada, sales were down 1.8 percent from July, after seventh consecutive months of increased home sales.

The number of homes sold last month increased 93.4 percent from August of 2007. The median price of a single-family home sold in the Las Vegas area decreased by 4.5 percent from $220,000 in July to $210,000 in August. That's down 30 percent from August 2007.

It's not clear if the local housing market has hit the bottom, but Kelley said history shows these prices won't last forever. And the number of available homes declined 3 percent in August. That inventory of homes is down 6.7 percent from last August.

"What we do know is that, once we sell off this inventory of homes in or nearing foreclosure, home prices will begin to increase," she said.