Real estate report shows strong sales, weak prices

New data Thursday showed continuation of a familiar pattern for the Las Vegas valley housing market: Sales are strong, but pricing is down from 2010 levels.

The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors said the median price of single-family homes sold locally in November was $125,000, down 7.3 percent from $134,900 one year ago but up 3.3 percent from $121,000 in October. The median price of local condominiums and townhomes sold in November was $58,000, a drop of 10.6 percent from $64,900 in November 2010 and 1.7 percent from $59,000 in October.

Elsewhere in its statistics, which focus on resold homes as opposed to new ones, the GLVAR reported 3,883 sales of local homes, condominiums and townhomes in November, up from 3,510 sales a year ago. November sales were nearly even from 3,881 properties sold in October.

The GLVAR said 20,818 single-family homes were listed for sale at the end of the month. That’s down 8 percent from one year ago and 3.1 percent from 21,478 single-family homes listed for sale at the end of October.

"I think there’s just less inventory, especially in areas where homes are really selling," GLVAR President Paul Bell said in a statement. "It’s much lower today than, say, four years ago, when we had almost 25,000 homes on the market."

Foreclosures are still driving much of the local market by holding down prices and inducing investors and first-time home buyers to pick up properties at low prices.

TransUnion, a Chicago company that tracks credit information, on Wednesday said its latest national study found Nevada mortgage delinquencies — the ratio of borrowers 60 or more days past due — are at 12.39 percent, trailing Florida but well above the national rate of 5.88 percent.

Nevada’s delinquency rate is expected to decline to 11.09 percent by the fourth quarter of 2012.

That would leave the state’s rate at more than double the national projected rate of 5 percent that time.

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