LAS VEGAS-Statistics recently released by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors show that existing home prices in May have increased for the fourth straight month, as the supply of homes listed for sale continued to shrink. “Basically, we’re seeing a classic case of supply and demand,” explains GLVAR president Kolleen Kelley.
According to Kelley, the local housing supply is going down, “primarily because banks are putting fewer homes on the market.” As a result, she says, prices are going up.
Even with fewer homes listed for sale, Kelley says that existing home sales remain ahead of the record sales pace set in 2011, when GLVAR reported that 48,186 existing properties were sold in Southern Nevada. The local housing inventory was already tightening throughout 2011. But Kelley said it has been shrinking at a more rapid rate in 2012.
Based on the current sales pace, Kelley explains that the “local housing supply is down to about a month’s worth of inventory.” According to GLVAR, the total number of local homes, condominiums and townhomes sold in May was 4,134. That’s up from 3,924 in April and up from 3,991 total sales in May 2011.
Compared to April, singlefamily home sales during May increased by 7.2%, while sales of condos and townhomes decreased by 2.4%. Compared to one year ago, home sales were up 9.7%, while condo and townhome sales were down 18.1%. As for prices, GLVAR reported the median price of single-family homes sold in May was $128,000, up 0.1 percent from $127,900 in April and up 1.6% from one year ago.
According to GLVAR records, it was the first time since May of 2005 that singlefamily home prices increased for four consecutive months. Meanwhile, the median price of local condominiums and townhomes sold in May was $62,000, up 3.5% from $59,900 in April. That’s down 1.2% from one year ago.
The total number of homes listed for sale on GLVAR’s Multiple Listing Service again decreased from April to May, with a total of 17,346 singlefamily homes listed for sale at the end of the month. That’s down 3% from 17,884 singlefamily homes listed for sale at the end of April and down 23.8% from one year ago.
According to GLVAR numbers, 32.6% of all existing local homes sold during May were short sales, which is up from 29.9% in April, and approaching the peak of 34% set in June 2010. And bank-owned homes accounted for 34.7% of all existing home sales in May, down from 36.9% in April.
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Natalie Dolce
Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com and GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.
