Notices of Default spiked big for January.  675 filed NODs in January represents a 17% increase over December’s number of NODs, and is more than double the number of NODs filed for the same period last year.  Will it ever stop?

New home sales in January dropped 48% from December’s 83 new home sales.  January’s paltry 46 new home sales represents only a third of the number sold last year in January.

Resales also declined a whopping 24% from December’s resales.  However the unit number of resales for January 2009 still remains higher than January 2008.  January represents the fifth consecutive month of higher year-over-year unit sales.

On another positive note, January re-fis took a big jump; climbing nearly 65% from December’s numbers.

See all the data here.

Well, it has finally happened.  The median sold price for Reno and Sparks, Nevada has now fallen below $200,000.  And in a BIG way!  January’s median sold price of $194,450 represents a HUGE drop from the previous month’s $209,900 – a whopping 7.4% decrease.  And I thought December’s 4% drop from November’s was big; but now the decline seems to be accelerating.  When will it stop?  See all the numbers here.

Reno’s median sold price took another big hit in December dropping 4.3% from November’s number. December’s median sold price now sits at $208,000 and is extremely close to falling below the $200,000 level. [In fact, if we see another 4.3% price decline this month, the new median will be $199,056.]

See all the numbers here.

“Guy, if I buy this house, will my property taxes be calculated based off my purchase price?”

This is a question I get asked quite often.  And is one for which most buyers are surprised to hear the answer.  What they are really asking is will their new property tax bill be lower than the property’s current tax bill.  Unfortunately the answers to both questions are “No”.  

Property taxes are calculated from a property’s assessed value.  And while the assessed values of many Washoe County properties are declining [another 15% according to a Tuesday RGJ article], most property owners will not see a decrease in their tax bills.  Why?

It has to do with a concept called abatement.  In 2005 the state passed AB 489, in part to provide tax relief for property owner.  Among other things, this law capped the increase to a property owner’s tax bill at 3% annually (for primary residences).  This meant your tax bill in any given year would be, at most, 3% more than your previous year’s bill amount.

It’s important to note that this “tax cap” applied to the amount of your bill, and not your property’s assessed value.  Therefore, as property values increase more than 3% annually, while tax bills were capped at 3%, an abatement was created.  Abatement is the amount of additional taxes that would have been owed if not for the tax cap.

Think of abatement as a deferred amount than can recouped in later years when property values are declining.

The Washoe County Assessor’s site has a very informative FAQ section covering a variety of topics, and I encourage readers to explore that site to learn more.   But if you would like to go directly to an explanation and example of how the tax cap and abatement process works click here:  Why did my tax bill increase when my assessed value decreased or did not change?

At $218,350, Reno-Spark's median sold price has now settled solidly below $220,000.  Units sold however continue to remain higher than last year's numbers.  For example, November's 274 sales represents an 18.6% increase over November 2007 sales.  Higher year-over-year sales is a trend that we have observed since June of this year. Of course, as has been pointed out numerous times, the bulk of the sales activity is occurring at the lower price points.

For example, 46% of November's residential sales sold for less than $200,000; 65% sold for less than $250,000; and 78% sold for less than $300,000.

See all the numbers here.

In Washoe County, Nevada, September's stats showed a more than a 10% reduction in the number of Active licensed agents since the beginning of the year.  In real numbers, September's decrease of 313 agents since January equates to one agent a day leaving the business.  Statewide the decrease in the number of active licensed agents has been a bit more than 13%.  See all the numbers here.

The median sold price per square foot for a home in Reno - Sparks, Nevada is now about $127/sq.ft. [after peaking at $214/sq.ft. in 2005]. The current $/sq.ft. number has brought us to pre-2004 levels.  A buyer can now roll back the clock five years when purchasing a home today.  Check out all the numbers here.

After rocketing skyward for a couple years Notices of Default in Washoe County finally peaked in April of this year at 457 NODs.  In the five months following April's peak, NODs began trending downward slightly.  For example, September's 422 NODs represented an 8% decline from April's peak. 

Well, I suppose good things can't last forever.  Washoe County Notices of Defaults took a HUGE jump in October.  The 582 NOD's filed in October represented a month-over-month increase of 38%! 

See all the numbers here.

I've just returned from this year's NAR (National Association of REALTORS®) conference where I saw the latest agent tools and products; met many new people; and caught up with old friends.  One of these friends was Gustavo Blachman, broker-owner of Terrabella Realty, a realty firm based in Miami, Florida.  I caught up with Gustavo who was at NAR promoting the publication of his new book, The Real Estate Diet. Gustavo gave me a copy and requested I write a review.  The flight back to Reno from Orlando afforded the opportunity to, not only read the book, but also to review.  See my review here. 

The drop in October's median sales price is truly startling (see table below). I believe October's is the largest one-month decline in sales prices we've seen since I began tracking these numbers. The median sold price for Reno and Sparks homes has now fallen below $220,000. However, the really shocking number is that this drop represents a seven percent decrease from September's median of $236,500. Yes, that's 7% in one month!  See all the numbers here.