LAS VEGAS-Statistics recently released by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors show existing home prices increased for the sixth straight month, while the local housing supply bounced back slightly in July. According to GLVAR president Kolleen Kelley, a longtime local realtor, “It was good to see more homes listed for sale last month, although we still have a shortage of available homes on the market.”
Kelley points out that “This is due primarily to banks putting fewer homes on the market than they did in the past.” She explains that for local homeowners, the bright side is that this tight housing supply has been driving up home prices—at least for now. “We’re also glad to see banks agreeing to more short sales as an alternative to foreclosure.”
Kelley is seeing “more short-sellers pushing to get their homes on the market” with the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act set to expire at the end of 2012. If Congress does not extend this law by Dec. 31, she said any amount of money a bank writes off in agreeing to sell a home as part of a short sale will become taxable income when sellers pay their income taxes.
According to GLVAR, the total number of local homes, condominiums and townhomes sold in July was 3,572. That’s down from 3,945 in June and down from 4,037 total sales in July 2011. Compared to June, single-family home sales during July decreased by 10.1%, while sales of condos and townhomes decreased by 6.7%. Compared to one year ago, home sales were down 8.7%, while condo and townhome sales were down 21.9%.
As for prices, GLVAR reported the median price of single-family homes sold in July was $133,000, up 0.9% from $131,785 in June and up 9% from one year ago. July marked the sixth straight month that median home prices increased – the longest run of monthly price appreciation since at least 2004, according to GLVAR. Meanwhile, the median price of local condominiums and townhomes sold in July was $66,500, down 3.6% from $69,000 in June, but up 12.7 percent from one year ago.
Kelley points out that short sales now outnumber foreclosure sales in Southern Nevada, a sign that “banks are more willing to agree to short sales and less willing to foreclose.” Since “short sales are better than a foreclosure for homeowners and for our neighborhoods,” she called this a positive trend.
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
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.
