Las Vegas Region August Home Sales
Las Vegas-area home sales dipped in August as foreclosure resales continued to wane and a surge in sales above $300,000 failed to compensate for a sharp drop in sub-$200,000 activity. The median price paid for a home – $177,000 – rose above a year earlier for the 17th consecutive month and reached a 57-month high, a real estate information service reported.
In August, 4,713 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area (Clark County). That was down 2.1 percent from both the month before and a year earlier, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.
On average, sales between July and August have risen 6.7 percent since 1994, when DataQuick's complete Las Vegas-area statistics begin. The August dip in total sales follows year-over-year gains in sales during the prior four months.
Total August sales in the Las Vegas region were the lowest for that month since August 2010 and were 7.7 percent below the average number of homes sold during all months of August since 1994. However, resales of houses and condos combined were 13.0 percent above average for the month of August, while sales of newly built homes were 49.6 percent below average.
The number of mid- to high-end home sales rose sharply again from year-ago levels, while low-end activity plummeted.
Sales of homes priced below $100,000 dropped 49.9 percent in August compared with a year earlier, while the number of transactions below $200,000 fell 24.9 percent year-over-year. The number of homes that sold for more than $200,000 shot up 69.8 percent year-over-year, pushed up by the combination of home price appreciation and strong demand in mid- to high-end markets. August sales of homes priced from $200,000 to $500,000 – a range that would include many move-up purchases – jumped 70.9 percent from a year earlier, while the number selling over $500,000 rose 58.0 percent.
The Las Vegas region’s August median sale price of $177,000, which reflects sales of new and existing houses and condos, is the highest for any month since the median was $190,000 in November 2008. The August median rose 2.3 percent from the prior month and increased 33.1 percent from a year earlier. The median’s year-over-year gains over the past 17 consecutive months have ranged from 1.7 percent to 35.3 percent. Those gains have been double-digit for the last 14 months.
Recent sharp increases in the median sale price reflect two factors: First, prices have risen as strong housing demand, fueled in large part by low mortgage rates, has met a relatively low supply of homes for sale. Second, the median has been influenced by changes in market mix – fewer of the homes re-selling now are low-cost distressed properties, and more are move-up homes in mid- to high-priced neighborhoods.
Despite the median’s year-over-year surge in August, it was still 43.3 percent below its November 2006 peak of $312,000. The median has been rising off a cyclical trough of $110,000 in January 2012, which was the lowest level since the median was also $110,000 in April 1994.
To view the Las Vegas highlight charts for August, visit DQNews.com.
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