August 2015 Las Vegas Area Real Estate Report

Here's the newest report from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. Key points are that home prices are up about ten percent from a year ago, condo prices up about 5% from a year ago. And more than 8-thousand homes for sale have not had any kind of offer.

The full report follows:

Local home sales and prices continued to post healthy gains in August compared to the same time last year, according to a report released Wednesday by the Greater Las Vegas Association of REALTORS® (GLVAR).

GLVAR reported the median price of homes sold through its Multiple Listing Service during August was $220,000, unchanged from July and up 10.0 percent from $200,000 one year ago. Meanwhile, the median price of local condominiums and townhomes, including high-rise condos, sold in August was $110,000. That was up 4.8 percent from $105,000 one year ago.

“We’re seeing double-digit increases for both the median price and the number of single-family homes being sold here in Southern Nevada,” said 2015 GLVAR President Keith Lynam, a longtime local REALTOR®. “At this point, we’re well ahead of last year’s sales pace, which is good news for local homeowners and the housing market. It remains a fairly balanced real estate market, which is solid news for both buyers and sellers.”

According to GLVAR, the total number of existing local homes, condominiums and townhomes sold in August was 3,454, up from 3,120 one year ago. Compared to August 2014, 11.2 percent more homes and 8.3 percent more condos and townhomes sold this August. Through Aug. 31, GLVAR reported a total of 26,225 sales so far in 2015, compared to 24,965 sales during the same period in 2014.

For more than two years, GLVAR has been reporting fewer distressed sales and more traditional home sales, where lenders are not controlling the transaction. In August, 6.2 percent of all local sales were short sales – which occur when lenders allow borrowers to sell a home for less than what they owe on the mortgage. That’s down from 11.5 percent one year ago. Another 7.0 percent of August sales were bank-owned, down from 8.9 percent one year ago.

The median price of single-family homes sold as part of a short sale in August was $175,250, up from $170,000 one year ago. The median price of bank-owned homes sold in August was $178,200, up from $161,550 one year ago.

Lynam said short sales could still increase if Congress votes to again extend the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007. In December, Congress voted to retroactively extend the tax break it had allowed to expire at the end of 2013 to help distressed homeowners who sold properties in 2014. Unless Congress extends this act through 2015, any amount of money a bank writes off in agreeing to sell a home as part of a short sale this year may become taxable when sellers file their income taxes.

The total number of single-family homes listed for sale on GLVAR’s Multiple Listing Service in August was 13,608, down 1.0 percent from one year ago. GLVAR tracked a total of 3,459 condos, high-rise condos and townhomes listed for sale on its MLS in August, down 4.5 percent from one year ago.

By the end of August, GLVAR reported 8,060 single-family homes listed without any sort of offer. That’s up 3.5 percent from one year ago. For condos and townhomes, the 2,319 properties listed without offers in August represented a 3.3 percent decrease from one year ago.

GLVAR said 28.2 percent of all local properties sold in August were purchased with cash. That’s down from 32.1 percent one year ago and less than half of the February 2013 peak of 59.5 percent, indicating that cash buyers and investors are still active in the local housing market, but that their influence is waning.

These GLVAR statistics include activity through the end of August 2015. GLVAR distributes such statistics each month based on data collected through its MLS, which does not necessarily account for newly constructed homes sold by local builders or for sale by owners. Other highlights include:

· The monthly value of local real estate transactions tracked through the MLS during August was nearly $749 million for homes and more than $86 million for condos, high-rise condos and townhomes. Compared to one year ago, total sales volumes in August were up 16.5 percent for homes and 14.9 percent for condos.

· In August, 68.9 percent of all existing local homes and 64.6 percent of all existing condos and townhomes sold within 60 days. That compares to one year ago, when 68.3 percent of all existing local homes and 63.1 percent of all existing condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.