Las Vegas area - with communities like Henderson, Summerlin, Mesquite, Mountains Edge, Silverstone Ranch, Anthem and Spanish Trail - real estate market closed the door on 2009 on a cautiously positive note. Low mortgage rates continue to draw buyers' attention, as do rock-bottom prices. And the first-time home buyer tax credit extension, spiced with the inclusion of a similar move-up buyer credit, stirred the scene even more. Those incentives are hard to ignore even in this shaky economic environment.
As usual, GLVAR, or Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, is behind the stats that follow. Altogether real estate agents closed 3,472 single-family transactions in December, an over 11% improvement from November. That's nice. It amounts to a 36.9% jump from 2008, which is even nicer. As has been the pattern just about all year around 60% of all home sales, including condos and townhouses, were bank REOs. And 40% were cash purchases largely in the lower end of the spectrum, indicating investors were busy shifting through the substantial inventory Las Vegas still has.
Southern Nevada total home sales for 2009 reached 46,879, a marked increase from the year before when the figure stood at 28,618. Interestingly, a dramatic 71,963 homes were closed in Las Vegas in 2004, a time when the infamous bubble was red-hot, fattening rapidly. Those were the days that preferably won't return anytime soon.
This time the Las Vegas single-family median price took a turn down to $136,000, a $4,000 drop from November. It translates to a 22.3% deficit from last year. Yet, it seems to have settled at around this neighborhood, hinting at a bottom, or at least very near of it.
The inventory of homes for sale finally dipped below the stubborn 20,000 unit mark. It now stands at 19,707, a solid 1,140 listing decrease from November. Southern Nevada housing market has switched in many mid- to lower-priced subdivisions to a seller's market and if the inventory keeps heading down, they'll soon have more company.
Las Vegas real estate market remains fragile mostly on account of the weak economy and high foreclosure numbers, but it is gradually correcting itself in some areas. And that is encouraging.
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