August 10, 2012 (Shirley Allen)
Home sales remained flat for the third consecutive month in Las Vegas during June, falling by 406 sales from May and falling below the previous year’s sales for the first time in twelve months according to the latest data released from DataQuick.
A total of 4,423 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area in June. Sales were 8.0 percent lower than the 4,830 homes sold in May and were 15.6 percent lower than the 5,262 homes sold in June of 2011.
Home sales in the region typically increase 8.6 percent between May and June and were 16.0 percent below the average number of homes typically sold during the month.
New home sales were 2.0 percent higher than last year but were still almost 70 percent below their historical average, while existing home sales were 17.1 percent lower than in June of last year and 11.8 percent below their historical average.
Cash buyers accounted for 51.6 percent of the purchases in June, which was down from 53.3 percent in May but up from 50.6 percent a year earlier. The record for cash purchases was in June 2011, when 56.7 percent of the sales were for cash.
The price that cash buyers paid for a home in June increased to $99,450 from $95,000 in May and were up from $83,000 in June of last year.
Absentee buyers, usually investors and vacation home buyers, accounted for 50.8 percent of all homes sold in June, up from 48.9 percent in May. The prices they paid for their purchases increased to $104,000 from $100,000 in May and were up from $94,000 in June of 2011.
The overall median price paid for new and resale homes and condos in June was $125,000, up from $122,000 in May and up from $115,000 in June of last year. It was the third consecutive month that year-over-year prices have improved after 21 consecutive months of declines.
June’s median price was still 59.9 percent below the peak median price of $312,000 in June 2006.
Distressed property sales accounted for 48.7 percent of the re-sale market in June with foreclosure re-sales accounting for 32.7 percent of total re-sales, down from 38.9 percent in May, and short sales accounting for 16.0 percent of total re-sales, up from 13.7 percent the previous month. Foreclosure re-sales were at their lowest level since December 2007.
Foreclosures increased from May to June with lenders foreclosing on 1,102 single-family homes and condos, up from 905 foreclosures in May. The highest number of loans foreclosed by lenders in a single month was in June 2011, when lenders foreclosed on 3,818 loans.
Notices of default (NoDs) increased 16.7 percent in the ninth month following the new Nevada law that created additional requirements in order to foreclose on a property, increasing from 1,280 in May to 1,568 in June. In September of last year, the month before the new law took effect, 4,507 NoDs were filed.
Tags: existing home sales, Las Vegas real estate, distressed properties, resale homes, condos, cash buyers, investors, median price
Source:
DataQuick
