Guy's Blog

NODs and Re-Fi's in Washoe County, Nevada - January 2009

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 11:10:04 -0800

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.

January Medians and Units Sold - Reno and Sparks, Nevada

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:30:07 -0800

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.

December Medians and Units Sold - Reno and Sparks, Nevada

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:25:08 -0800

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.

What's Abatement?

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:19:40 -0800

“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?

Reno Sparks Median "For Sale" and "Sold" Prices - November 2008

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:43:42 -0800

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.

We're Losing An Agent Every Day in Reno, NV

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:20:22 -0800

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.

Reno, Nevada Home Price Per Square Foot Drops to $127/sq.ft.

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:59:35 -0800

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.

Reno NODs Up 38% from Last Month

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:15:49 -0800

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.

My First Book Review

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:17:32 -0800

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.

Median Sold Price Drops 7% in One Month

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 09:02:59 -0800

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.

September Stats from Ticor Title for Washoe County, Nevada

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:39:28 -0700

Washoe County Notices of Default remained relatively flat for September. Very high still (422 for the month); but stable nonetheless. A ceiling of 400 - 450 per month seems to have been set (as observed for the last eight months).

For the second consecutive month the number of re-fis is less than the number of resales; a phenomenon never before observed in Reno's housing market history until last month. Resales declined slightly (20 less sales) for September as compared to August. The downward trend in unit sales should continue as we enter the slower house buying season.

See all the numbers here.

September Median Home Prices for Reno-Sparks, Nevada

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:42:22 -0700

Median sold price and units sold for September remained relatively stable compared to August's numbers. The median sold price continues to fall, but not as dramatically as we saw last month.

The number of homes listed for sale in September fell 7% compared to August's listings. This is a typical seasonal trend observed as sellers take their homes off the market for the holidays and slower home buying season.

See all the numbers here.

Reno MLS Areas by Percent Decline in Median Home Price

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:21:13 -0700

From my monthly median sold price table we know that Reno-Sparks home prices are now more then 30% off their peak reached in July 2005. But this number is for all Reno and Sparks. What are the declines by MLS area? And did every area peak at the same time? These are questions I was curious about, so I pulled the data and found the following results (click here).

Distressed Properties by MLS Area - Reno and Sparks, Nevada

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:15:23 -0700

There's been much discussion on the blog recently about distressed properties (bank owned, short sales, court sales, etc). Currently, these types of listings account for over 40% of the properties listed on our MLS and 50% of the sales in the last thirty days.

I recently overheard a couple agents commenting about the high number of short sales in Sparks. Curious, I decided to query the MLS and break out distressed properties by MLS area to determine if a large variability between MLS areas exists, and if so, by how much.

See the breakout here.

August Median Sold Prices - Reno, Nevada

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:10:26 -0700

Another month, another substantial decrease. This month both the median sales price AND the number of sales dramatically decreased. August's median sales price of $240,000 represents a 2.8% decline from July's $247,000. YoY decrease is 18.6%; Yo2Y decrease is 22.6%; and we are now 30.4% off our peak of $345,000 set in July 2005. See the complete report here.

Somersett Farmer's Market

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:58:46 -0700

This week will be the final week of the Somersett Farmer's Market. If you haven't been before, check out the video below. I've tried to capture the spirit of the event.

Btw, the farmers market takes place at Somersett's Towne Center and is Wednesday afternoon and starts at 4:30PM and wraps up around 8PM. As you'll see from the video there is live music and plenty of activities for the kids.

Somersett Farmers Market - Reno, NV

July's Median Home Prices - Reno, NV

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:47:31 -0700

I've compile July's numbers for Reno-Sparks. The first thing that jumps out is that the median sold price dropped substantially from the previous month's low. At $247,000, not only does July's median sold price represent a 3% ONE MONTH decrease, but also a new low median sales price since I've been tracking these numbers. We are now 28.4% off of Reno's peak median price of $345,000, set three years ago in July 2005. See all the numbers here.

Only Half of Reno Listings Occupied

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 01:04:54 -0700

Homes sitting unoccupied nationwide set a new record last quarter - with 18.6 million vacant houses according to the US Census Bureau.

Here in Reno we have our fair share of vacant houses. A quick look at today's listings show: Of the 4,586 residential listings in Reno-Sparks, only half are owner-occupied. The rest are either vacant, rented or under construction.

Here is the breakdown:

Reno-Sparks Residential Listings
August 2, 2008

Occupied by?	#	%
Owner-occupied	2,323	50.7%
Vacant	1,919	41.8%
Tenant-occupied	338	7.4%
Under Construction	6	0.1%
--------------	----	-----
total listings	4,586	100.0%

Data courtesy of the Northern Nevada MLS (NNRMLS) - August 2008.

Only 36% Of Our Pending Short Sales Have Closed -- Even After Three Months

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 02:17:53 -0700

Ninety days have passed since I took a snapshot of the Pendings on our MLS. Readers may recall I followed up with a check of the status of these "pendings" at 30 days and again at 60 days.

So how have the pendings fared after ninety days? As has been the case with the 30- and 60-day observations, those pending listings with a status of "Active-Pending-Loan" continue to exhibit the highest probability of closing - with 88 % having closed within ninety days. On the other end of the spectrum, those pending listings that had a status of "Active-Pending-Short Sale" had the least probability of closing - with only a little over a third (36%) having had closed, even after three months. It should also be noted that after 90 days, 38% of those pending short sales had dropped out of escrow; either by being placed back on the market as Active (19%) or taken off the market completely (19%) - probably destined for foreclosure.

See all the numbers here.

74% of Reno-Sparks Homes Sold for Less Than $350,000

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:33:04 -0700

This week my broker, Chase International, released the 2008 Mid-Year Price Banding Charts. These charts show the number of units sold at various price points, and cover the areas of: Incline Village; East Shore; Truckee; Tahoe City; South Lake Tahoe; Reno/Sparks; and Carson Valley. As an example 40% of the houses that sold in the first half of 2008 in Reno/Sparks sold for less than $250,000. 74% sold for less that $350,000. See each of the charts here.

Reno-Sparks Median "For Sale" and "Sold" Prices - June 2008

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:23:53 -0700

Well...at least June's median sold price drop was not as dramatic as May's, but we're still looking at a new low... $254,000. On the plus side, units sold for June was way up. With 387 residential properties sold in June, that's an increase of nearly 13% over May's number of Solds. In fact, it's even higher than June 2007's 378 units sold.

See all the numbers here.

May Median Sold Prices - Reno, Nevada

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:48:12 -0700

Wow! The median sold price took a huge drop for the month of May - 5.2% lower than April's median. Granted, all sales for May might not be entered into the MLS yet, but even so I don't see the median fluctuating that much. Note also that the median For Sale price has remained unchanged since February of this year, while the Sold median price has dropped more than 6% during the same period. Inventory also increased to... see all the data here

Price per Square Foot - The New Metric?

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:41:32 -0700

Many recent comments on my local Reno Realty blog have been made regarding how the reported median home prices don't tell the whole story when it comes to home values in Reno. For this reason many of our readers have expressed a desire to see $/sq.ft. sold price data - the idea being that the $/sq.ft. data might be a truer indicator of where home values are today compared to historical highs. With this in mind I set out to uncover this information... click here to see results.

Washoe County (Reno, NV) Recorded Sales and NODs for April 2008

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:35:32 -0700

Washoe County re-sales increased for the third consecutive month (up 20% over March); however April new homes sales decreased in April over March (down 11%). Summing re-sales and new home sales results in a nearly 9% increase in Washoe County recorded home sale recordings for April over March. 605 recordings vs. 556 recordings.

Unfortunately this sales activity is negated by the increasing foreclosure activity. As has been the case for the last twelve months Notices of Default (NODs) continue to skyrocket. April saw another 457 NODs recorded in Washoe County. This number is truly staggering. 457 NODs is more than 15 a day (or more than 20 per day, excluding weekends). And this trend does not look to subside anytime soon. We're already at 58% of 2007's total (and it's only April). At this rate 2008's NODs will outnumber 2007's by July.

See all the numbers here.

April Median Sold Prices - Reno, Nevada

Guy Johnson, MBA, CRS, Blogger, Guy Johnson (Keller Williams Group One, Inc.) — Mon, 05 May 2008 21:57:37 -0700

A 31% increase in the month-over-month number of homes sold in April stands out as the big news this month. I, as well as many agents in my office, can attest to the increase in client activity lately. These numbers seem to support our perception.
The median sold price also increased for April, with a noteworthy gain 3.5% over March. This market has not seen a month-over-month increase of that magnitude for quite some time. See the complete report here.