Overview of the Las Vegas Nevada Real Estate Market

This information has been updated as of January 5, 2012.

Prices have remained fairly stable for over a year now for resales. While I have no statistics at this time to support it, my observations are that new home prices continue to decline. Roughly 73% of the resale market activity (closed sales) is in either foreclosures or short sales. Short sales are starting to more dominate the available listings. Just over 46% are short sales. Also, just over 68% of those properties under contract, in contingent and pending status are short sales. Around 27% of closings are short sales (last 30 days). The discrepancy between these two figures reflects the difficulty in closing short sales. Click here for more in-depth  information on the possible pitfalls of short sales. Larry Murphy of Salestraq estimates that there have been approximately 100,000 homes foreclosed on over the last 4 years. He also estimates that another 100,000 will likely be foreclosed on before we reach a normal market situation.

Foreclosures are still significant with 46% of the closings over the last 30 days and with just over 19% of the available listings. The dominance of foreclosure closings compared to the dominance of short sale listings has been a factor now for a few months.  A fact of this marketplace at this time is that way more short sales are going into escrow than closing. The local planned communities that were very active, selling new in 2005-2006 are the ones hardest hit. Nothing intrinsically wrong with them, other being in the wrong place a the wrong time. As examples I would include Southern Highlands, Silverado Ranch, Mountain's Edge, Aliante and Lake Las Vegas. All these communities represent bad news for sellers and good news for buyers.

One common misconception buyers have is that many believe this market is stagnant. It is not, particularly towards the lower end. Buyer pressure is intense with multiple offers on many properties. There are incredible opportunities here. Every day I am amazed at what I see listed and for how much. It is understandable given the drastic fall in prices that we see the dominance of short sales, given that the large majority of homeowners owe more on their home than is it worth. It make it a difficult market for a buyer given that many of these short sales are not closing successfully. Short sale, in my opinion should be approached with much caution and with a real awareness of the potential for failure at some point in the sales process

Below represents my own calculations, based on raw data provided by the greater Las Vegas Association
of Realtors.  Prices are for free standing homes only:

June  2006 median home sale price (resale)  $319,000  Median list price on these homes was $324,000.
July 2006 median home sale price (resale)  $316,000  Median list price on these homes was $326,000.
August 2006 median home sale price (resale) $310,000 Median list price on these homes was $315,000.
September 2006 median home sale price (resale) $313,000 Median list price on these homes was $319,000.
October median 2006 home sale price (resale) $308,000 Median list price on these homes was $311,000.
November  2006 median home sale price (resale $306,000 Median list price on these homes was $310,000.
December 2006 median home sale price (resale) $305,000 Median list price on these homes was $310,000
January 2007 median home sale price ( resale) $309,000 Median list price on these homes was $312,000.
February 2007 median homes sale price (resale) $305,000 Median list price on these homes was $310,000.
April 2007 median homes sale price (resale) $304,000 Median list price on these homes was $310,000.
May 2007 median homes sale price (resale) $300,000 Median list price on these homes was $308,000.
July 2007 median home sale price (resale) $297,000 Median list price on these homes was $305,000.
September 2007 median sale price (resale) $295,000 Median list price on these homes was $300,000
October 2007 median sale price (resale) $283,000 Median list price on these homes was $290,000.
November 2007 median sale price (resale) $274,000 Median list price on these homes was $282,000.
December 2007 median sale price (resale) $263,000 Median list price on these homes was $270,000.
January 2008 median sale price (resale) $248,000 Median list price on these homes was $255,000.
February 2008 median sale price (resale) $243,000 Median list price on these homes was $248,000.
April 2008 median sale price (resale) $237,000 Median list price on these homes was $243,000.
May 2008 median sale price (resale) $235,000 Median list price on these homes was $ 239,000.
June 2008 median sale price (resale) $224,000 Median list price was $224,000.  Days on market average, 71.
July 2008 median sale price (resale) $216,000. Median list price was $215,000.  Days on the market average, 64.
September 2008 median sale price (resale) $202,000. Median list price was $199,000 Average days on the market 57.
October 2008 median sale price (resale) $191,000. Median list price was $ $190,000. Average days on the market 61.
November 2008 median sale price (resale) $180,000. Median list price was $180,000. Average days on the market 57.
January 2009 median sale price (resale) $165,000. Median list price was $167,000. Average days on the market 60.
February 2009 median sale price (resale) $153,000. Median list price was $155,000. Average days on the market 70.
March 2009 median sale price  (resale) $144,000. Median list price was $146.000. Average days on the market 69.
April 2009 median sale price (resale) $141,000.  Median list price was $143,000. Average days on the market  65.
June 2009 median sale price (resale) $139,000. Median list price was $140,000. Average days on the market 68.
July 2009 median sale price (resale) $137,000. Median list price was $137,000. Average days on the market 62
August 2009 median sale price (resale) $135,000. Median list price was $$135,000. Average days on the market 55.
September 2009 median sale price (resale) $139,000. Median list price was $137,000. Average days on the market 52.
October 2009 median sale price (resale) $141,000. Median list price was $139,000. Average days on the market 50.
November 2009 median sale price (resale) $139,000. Median list price was $139,000. Average days on the market 49.
January 2010 median sale price (resale) $136,000. Median list price was $134,000. Average days on the market 55.
March 2010 median sale price (resale) $135,000. Median list price was $136,000. Average days on the market 61.
April 2010 median sale price (resale) 143,000. Median list price was $144,000. Average days on the market 63.
May 2010 median sale price (resale) $142,000. Median list price was $143,000. Average days on the market 61.
June 2010 median sales price (resale) $138,000. Median list price was $139,000. Average days on the market 60
July 2010 median sales price (resale) $135,000. Median list price was $137,000. Average days on the market was 61.
September 2010 median sales price (resale) $135,000. Median list price was $139,000. Average days on the market was 62.
October 2010 median sales price (resale) $132,000. Median list price was  $135,000. Average days on the market was 68.
November 2010 median sales price (resale) was $134,000. Median list price was $136,000. Average days on the market was 70.
December 2010 median sales price (resale) was $130,000. Median list price was $136,000. Average days on the market was 72.
February 2011 median sales price (resale) was $129,000. Median list price was $130,000. Average days on the market was 76.
March 2011 median sales price (resale) was $125,000. Median list price was $128,000. Average days on the market was 71.
April 2011  median sales price (resale) was $125,000. Median list price was $129,000. Average days on the market was 72.
May 2011 median sales price (resale) was $126,000. Median list price was $129,000. Average days on the market was 68.
July 2011 median sales price (resale) was $122,000. Median list price was $125.000. Average days on the market was 64.
August 2011 median sales price (resale) was $120,000. Median list price was $122,000. Average days on the market was 68.
September 2011 median sales price (resale) was $123,000. Median list price was $124,000. Average days on the market was 72.
December 2011 median sales price ( resale) was $119,000. Median list price was  $121,000. Average days on the market was 77.

 

From June 2006 through December 2011 median resale sales prices for free standing homes have decreased 62.69%. There has been a 8.5% decrease in the median sales price over the last 12 months. The last 18 months had shown some stabilization of selling prices, but there has been a slow attrition since November 2010. The raw data for this calculation is courtesy of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.  73% of free-standing homes closing escrow in December 2011 were either bank owned or short sales (mostly bank owned). I believe that the lack of any meaningful discrepancy between list and selling price since June 2009 is the result of banks being more aggressive in pricing foreclosures.  This results in multiple offers on some of these properties with some selling for far more than list.  After an average drop of around $10,000 a month for several months, prices have been dropping more slowly.  One figure not reflected above is the median number of days on the market. That figure is 45.  Many of the bank owned properties, particularly those priced under $150,000 are being purchased quickly.

Snapshot of the market as of January 5, 2012 shows 8,934 free standing homes on the market ( May 2009 the figure was 13,346) with 4,151 having gone under contract over the last 30 days.  The  rate of sales has increased substantially over the last couple of years with the inventory shrinking considerably.  Consider  November 10, 2007 to December 10, 2007, when 944 homes went under contract.  The National Association of Realtors regards a 5 to 6 month inventory of homes as a neutral market, neither a buyer's or seller's market.  There is now just over a two month supply of homes available, at the current rate of sale. One statistic that mitigates the two month supply figure above is that there are now more homes under contract than on the market. That is an amazing figure and to my mind not a positive one. It reflects, in my opinion, the huge number of short sales, many of which stay under contract for many months and most of which will probably not close.   Over 73% of sales (closings) over the last 30 days have been foreclosures of short sales.

 New construction -   There are now around 300 active subdivisions.  Sounds like a lot, but in 2005-2006 there were around 1,200.

 51.8% of all listed properties are represented as vacant (note that historically, this figure has been in the 41% range for the last number of years). Just over 10.5% are tenant occupied.

In the way of new information, I have included the elevations of all the major planned communities and age restricted communities on their respective pages.  There is a wide range of elevation at which homes are constructed inside the valley ranging from just over 1,600 ft. to over 3,500 ft.  The lower elevations are generally on the east side with the highest elevations in the newer areas of Summerlin.  Elevation can be a factor in temperatures as well as possibly air quality.

The new high-rise product is a difficult sell now in Las Vegas. Several projects have seen sales stagnate. City Center is offering reduced prices to those individuals already under contract. The real opportunities, in my opinion, are resales with prices having fallen dramatically.

More high-rise information here.

 Call me or e-mail me with any questions you may have.

Millie Fine
Toll Free 1-888-449-3463
Home office 1-702-363-5599
E-Mail Millie!
millie@milliefine.com 

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