Las Vegas Region September Home Sales
The Las Vegas area posted a normal slowdown in sales last month compared with August but activity edged slightly higher than a year earlier as relatively strong move-up buying compensated for a drop-off in sub-$200,000 deals. A variety of price measures suggested home values began to flatten recently, although September’s overall median sale price was still nearly 28 percent higher than a year ago, a real estate information service reported.
In September, 4,218 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area (Clark County). That was down 10.5 percent from the month before and up 3.1 percent from a year earlier, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.
On average, sales between August and September have fallen 8.6 percent since 1994, when DataQuick's complete Las Vegas-area statistics begin.
Total September sales in the Las Vegas region were the highest for that month since September 2011 and were 9.6 percent below the average number of homes sold during all months of September since 1994. However, resales of houses and condos combined were 14.3 percent above average for the month of September, while sales of newly built homes were 56.3 percent below the September average.
The number of mid- to high-end home sales remained well above year-ago levels, while low-end deals fell considerably short of 2012 levels.
Sales of homes priced below $100,000 dropped 46.2 percent in September compared with a year earlier, while the number of transactions below $200,000 fell 19.6 percent year-over-year. The number of homes that sold for more than $200,000 shot up 67.1 percent year-over-year, pushed higher by the combination of home price appreciation and strong demand in mid- to high-end markets. September sales of homes priced from $200,000 to $500,000 – a range that would include many move-up purchases – jumped 64.6 percent from a year earlier, while the number selling over $500,000 rose 96.3 percent.
Las Vegas region buyers paid a median $175,000 for all new and resale houses and condos sold in September. That was down 1.1 percent from $177,000 the prior month and up 27.7 percent from $137,000 a year earlier.
The year-over-year gains in the region's median sale price over the past 18 consecutive months have ranged from 1.7 percent to 35.3 percent. The annual gains have been double-digit for the last 15 months and above 20 percent for the last 11 months, although the year-over-year increases have ratcheted lower each month since peaking at 35.3 percent in June.
There are signs in the Las Vegas region and other markets that home prices began to level off in recent months amid higher mortgage rates, a larger supply of homes for sale and a gradual decline in cash and investor purchases. The median price paid for a resale single-family detached house in the Las Vegas area held at $175,000 in July, August and September. The median price paid per square foot for resale houses was $99 in September, the same as in August. The median price paid per square foot for resale condos in September was $84, down a hair from $85 in August.
Despite the large year-over-year gain for the region's overall median sale price in September, the median was still 43.9 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.
The sharp annual gains in the median price reflect two factors: First, prices have risen as stronger 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 nudged higher by changes in market mix – fewer of the homes re-selling now are low-cost distressed properties, and more are mid- to high-cost move-up homes.
Distressed property sales, which is the combination of foreclosure resales and short sales, made up about 28 percent of the Las Vegas region's resale market in September. That was down from around 33 percent the prior month and down from about 62 percent a year earlier.
Las Vegas region September highlights (see two charts at the DQNews article)
Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157
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