Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Las Vegas home sales increase in February as prices drop

Home Credit

STEVE MARCUS / LAS VEGAS SUN file

Home prices in Southern Nevada are less than half what they were during their 2006 peak.

Related Document (.pdf)

The Southern Nevada housing market bounced back slightly in February with increased sales, but it wasn't enough to prevent home prices from slipping again over the past year.

The 2,591 sales of single-family homes in February were 3.3 percent higher than January and 8.4 percent higher than February 2010, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported today.

The median price of those homes was $128,000. While up 2.4 percent or $3,000 from January, the price fell 5.7 percent from February 2010.

That downward trend may not stop soon. The median price of new listings was $134,900 in February, up 1.4 percent from January but 10 percent below where it was in February 2010.

The GLVAR reported that 53.8 percent of the homes purchased in February were with cash, up from 51 percent in January. GLVAR President Paul Bell, who’s optimistic about sales, said that trend is likely to continue as long as lending standards remain tight and lower-priced, bank-owned homes remain available.

“Most of these cash buyers are investors who are renting out, rather than occupying these homes,” Bell said. “While it would be ideal to see more owner-occupants buying these homes, that’s not realistic right now in this market.”

In February, 26.6 percent of existing homes sold were short sales in which the bank agrees to sell homes for less than is owed on the mortgage. The percentage is unchanged from January and below the peak of 34 percent in June, the GLVAR said.

The housing inventory increased 1.3 percent in February over January to 22,307 units on the GLVAR’s Multiple Listing Service. That’s 10 percent higher than February 2010.

Some 12,019 single-family homes of the 22,307 listed didn’t have offers on them, a 51 percent increase over February 2010, when the federal housing tax credit was still in place. The median list price of those homes without offers is nearly 23 percent lower than it was in February 2010.

Homes that are sold are staying on the market longer. Nearly 56 percent of homes sold in February were completed in the first 60 days of their listings. Nearly 66 percent were sold within 60 days in February 2010.

In the condominium and town home market, the 780 sales in February were nearly 10.6 percent higher than January and 14 percent higher than February 2010.

The median price of those units sold was $62,250 in February, down 4.1 percent from January and 4.2 percent from February 2010.

The listings of town homes and condominiums fell sharply in February to 4,794 units, a 13.7 percent drop from January and 12.8 percent drop from February 2010.

The GLVAR tracks home sales in Clark, Nye, Lincoln and White Pine counties. Most of the listings are existing homes, condos and town homes, but builders do list some new units on the MLS.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy