The basic scoop. Summary: Prices are up, inventories are down. The resale market now has an effective inventory of 1.2 months in the multiple listing service (MLS), pricing continues to escalate as the buying environment right now is closer to the 2004-2005 period as opposed to the lowest levels reached in 2011. The median resale closing price jumped another 32 percent from the prior year, reaching levels last witnessed four years ago. Cash buyers represented 58 percent of closings in the past month, squeezing out a number of owner-occupants seeking […]
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Hello from Las Vegas! There has been considerable speculation as to what we can expect in the way of foreclosure inventories over the next several months or year. A close look at some of the bank filings and how quickly they are processed can give some helpful insight. The details are below, but the short answer is that I do not think it possible that any great glut of foreclosures will be hitting this market anytime soon. Even if there were a huge spike in Notice of Defaults (which I […]
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Buyer and agent frustration May I just say that this is a very frustrating market, frustrating for agent such as myself as well as for my clients. On one hand prices are still very low compared to just a few years ago and interest rates are still close to all time lows. The problem is inventories and investors. Inventories are lower than they should be in a normal market. Much of this has to do with recent legislation restricting the ability of banks to foreclose. Low interest rates are a […]
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Fast facts as of March 8, 2013 New homes – Sales are up 50.4% for the last 12 months, prices up 4% for the same period. New home builders are benefiting from the tight resale market. Still with 5,686 closings for 2012, there is a long ways to go to match the new home sales figures of just a few years ago. Resale homes – Median prices have held steady for the second month at $130,000. Compared to the prior year prices are up 30%. Sales are off 23.7% for […]
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Hello from Las Vegas! New home sales are making somewhat of a comeback. The information below the graph is courtesy of Salestraq. They represent at 42.1% increase in new home sales in 2012 from the previous year. Even more recent information shows that for free-standing homes, the prices have increased from January to January 27.1% The medain price of a free-standing home in January 2011 was $118,000. The median price in January 2012 was $150,000. With 52,543 resale closings in 2012 new homes sales still have much ground to make […]
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Wow! It has been quite a ride over the last decade in this marketplace. From a median sales price for a free-standing home of $319,000 in 2006 to a low of $119,000 December 2011 and now back to $149,000 to end the year What’s next? Hard to say, but looking that some of the statistics I do think some insight is possible. 45.8% of closed sales in December were short sales. Just under 10% were foreclosures. As of seven months ago, there were 8,889 distressed properties on the market. Now […]
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This year has seen a dramatic reduction in inventories of homes listed for sale as well as a significant spike in prices. Below are some specifics that will illustrate this change as well as some other observations about this marketplace. Median selling price of free-standing homes. From January through November the median selling price of a free-standing home has risen from $120,000 to $149,000. All of that change has occurred since March, this year. Prices have not been at this level since March, 2009. To give this some additional perspective, […]
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I have kept track of median home sales price in the Las Vegas Valley since mid 2006. Below is a graph that gives a visual representation of that slide and then subsequent stabilization. Short sales continue to dominate this market with 45.3% of the closings in October. Foreclosures represented 11.3% of the sales. Banks seem to be more responsive to short sales lately. Another factor, I believe, is the heavy marketing done particularly by local law firms representing their short sale services. I really do not know if there […]
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New breaking news on the foreclosure front! Foreclosures have all but dried up with only 454 now on the market, as of September 7, 2012. This is no doubt because of the recent legislation, Assembly Bill 284, (Oct. 1,2011) that requires lenders produce significant/sufficient documentation before they can foreclose. According to ForeclosureRadar, the number of Notice of Defaults filed in Las Vegas in August this year took a sudden jump to 3,589. It appears lenders finally have some resolution as to how to deal with the new laws. Above is […]
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The new Nevada ” Robo-signing Law” has apparently had some real unintended consequences. Banks are reluctant to foreclose and it also appears that sellers, especially those with delinquent loans, are reluctant to do much of anything. Assembly Bill 284 took effect Oct. 1, 2011, making it a felony if a mortgage servicer or trustee made false representations concerning a title. There also will be a $5,000 fine assessed if fraud, such as robo-signing, is detected. The new law requires servicer to provide a new affidavit that provides the amount due […]
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