Las Vegas Region December Home Sales
Las Vegas-area home sales dropped in December to the lowest level for that month in six years as inventory remained tight and the median price paid for a home climbed to a new high, a real estate information service reported.
In December, 3,797 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area (Clark County). That was up 6.5 percent from the month before and down 15.2 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 November and December have risen 10 percent since 1994, when DataQuick's complete Las Vegas-area statistics begin. Sales have fallen on a year-over-year basis for the past three months.
Total December home sales were the lowest for that month since December 2007, when 2,739 homes sold, and were 21 percent below the average number sold during all months of December since 1994. However, resales of houses and condos combined were 5.9 percent above average for the month of December, while sales of newly built homes were 65.6 percent below the December average.
The 52,063 homes sold in the region during all of 2013 marked a 2.8 percent decline from the 2012 sales total. Home sales were limited in 2013 by the thin supply of homes on the market, especially in the lower price ranges. Many owners still can’t afford to sell their homes because they owe more than they are worth. Also, lenders aren’t foreclosing on as many properties, further limiting the supply of homes for sale.
In December, sales of homes priced below $100,000 dropped 49.6 percent compared with a year earlier, while sub-$200,000 transactions fell 32.0 percent year-over-year. The number of homes that sold for $200,000 or more shot up 28.1 percent year-over-year. December sales of homes priced from $200,000 to $500,000 – a range that would include many move-up purchases – increased 25.5 percent from a year earlier, while the number selling for $500,000 or more jumped 59.4 percent ($500,000-plus sales represented only about 4 percent of December sales).
Las Vegas region buyers paid a median $180,050 for all new and resale houses and condos purchased in December, up 0.6 percent from $179,000 in November and up 24.1 percent from $145,106 a year earlier. December’s $180,050 median was the highest for 2013 – just a hair above the $180,000 median in October 2013 – and it’s the highest for any month since November 2008, when the median was $190,000.
The median sale price’s year-over-year gains over the past 21 consecutive months ranged from 1.7 percent to 35.3 percent. These annual gains have been double-digit for the last 18 months and above 20 percent for the last 14 months. However, December’s $180,050 median was still 42.3 percent below the region’s peak $312,000 median in November 2006.
The run-up in home prices over the last year varies depending on price segment. In December, the lowest-cost third of the region’s housing stock saw a 32.0 percent year-over-year gain in the median price paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses. The annual increase was 26.0 percent for the middle third of the market and 29.6 percent for the top, most-expensive third.
Investors' impact on the Vegas housing market has generally tapered in recent months. Absentee buyers, which would include investors and some vacation-home buyers, purchased 43.4 percent of the homes sold in December, up slightly from 42.6 percent the month before and down from 50.1 percent a year earlier. The November 2013 absentee share of 42.6 percent was the lowest since June 2010, when it was 37.5 percent. The monthly average absentee share since January 2000 is 35.4 percent.
Investors faced a smaller inventory of homes to choose from last year as the number of homes foreclosed on fell and the supply of distressed properties for sale dwindled. The 8,784 homes foreclosed on in the Las Vegas metro area in 2013 marked a nearly 33 percent decline from 2012. Last year’s foreclosure total was the lowest since 1,935 homes were lost to foreclosure in 2006. The peak year for foreclosures was 2009, when 33,833 Las Vegas-area homes were foreclosed on.
To view additional Las Vegas region December highlights, visit DQNews.com.
Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157
Copyright 2014 DataQuick. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment