Las Vegas Real Estate Report - July Closings
Posted by Paul Francis on Wednesday, August 4th, 2010 at 5:02pm.July Real Estate Closings for Las Vegas actually Look Solid
Months following the April 30th Contract deadline of the First Time Homebuyers Tax Credit critical to see if a base and interest in Las Vegas real estate is sustainable.
Some of these July closings were originated in April but as the months pass, more and more of these sales will not be due to Government subsidies enticing buyers. Obviously there has been a lot of concern from Real Estate experts across the country what would happen if the tax credit expired. As expected, some markets not allowed to correct before the tax credit program are seeing pain with multiple price reductions and increased inventory which has been dominating the news as of late. According to many of the reports I've seen, Las Vegas has been at the lower end of the list with modest price declines in listing prices and moderate inventory increases. I'm seeing other real estate markets in the country with reports of over 40% of their inventory experiencing listing price reductions in the past month. A clear indication that buyer activity in those markets has dwindled. Due to this and looking at the actual July Closings for Las Vegas Real Estate, the Las Vegas real estate market is actually looking solid in comparison.
That being said... let's go over what numbers are covered in this report. There are various reports released from services all over including many companies that don't even practice real estate... or are even based in Las Vegas.
The following Las Vegas Real Estate numbers are from the Las Vegas Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and include the areas 101 through 606. This includes everything including Henderson to North Las Vegas that are classified as Single Family Residences, Condominiums, Townhomes and Manufactured Homes. This does not include all New Home Sales or Private Sales. This report also does not include High Rise Condominiums (Condos located in buildings 5 stories high +.) The Las Vegas High Rise Condominium Report Will be released shortly in a seperate post since these really are a completely different type of product.
For the Month of July, there were a total of 3,561 Closings Reported as of 08/04/2010.
Breaking this down by classification of the type of Property Sold:
| Type | # | % |
| Single Family Homes | 2,848 | 79.98% |
| Condominiums | 465 | 13.06% |
| TownHomes | 238 | 6.68% |
| Manufactured Homes | 10 | 0.28% |
3,561 |
Obviously Single Family Homes dominate the sales in Las Vegas as normal.
Type of Las Vegas Home Seller:
| Type | # | % |
| REO aka Bank Owned Homes | 1,503 | 42.20% |
| Short Sales - Pre Foreclosure Sales | 1,135 | 31.87% |
| Regular Sellers - Not Distressed | 923 | 25.92% |
| Total | 3,561 |
As Normal, Bank Owned Properties lead the way in actual properties that closed escrow. Despite having far less Bank Owned Homes available for sale in Las Vegas compared to Short Sales, processing by the banks for properties they own is handled far better then their short sales requests. Closed Las Vegas short sales once again hit over 1,000 - a vast improvement over last years closings. However.. considering there are over 10,000 short sales currently contingent awaiting the lenders short sale approval with over 4,000 of them waitng over 90 days, this can certainly be improved to really get the Las Vegas Real Estate Market back on track to a truly sustainable future.
Las Vegas REO or Bank Owned Home Inventory Available for Sale has been creeping up as indicated by my last Las Vegas Bank Owned Report. And Banks do not play around in getting them sold once they do put them up for sale. It's well known that this particular type of inventory is being controlled from hitting the market available for sale. According to some quick searches I did in the Clark County Tax Records, I easily found over 1,100 properties in Clark County owned by Freddie Mac and it was not hard to find out that several of them were not even listed for sale on the Las Vegas MLS. It's really difficult to get a true number of how many bank owned homes are sitting on the sidelines and would require some very time consuming research. For those services out there that are actually charging money for their real estate reports, I would suggest they do this research since it's something that would provide some real value.
Type of Financing Used by Las Vegas Real Estate Buyers:
| Type of Financing | # | % |
| Cash | 1,612 | 45.29% |
| FHA | 946 | 26.57% |
| Conventional | 760 | 21.34% |
| VA | 165 | 4.63% |
| Not Listed | 60 | 1.68% |
| Owner will Carry | 11 | 0.31% |
| Private Financing | 7 | 0.20% |
| Lease with Option to Purchase | 0 | 0.00% |
I always like to show this chart since it shows how many Las Vegas real estate buyers winning on the deals are cash buyers. This has been a consistent story throughout the year. For real estate agents representing buyers and chasing the great homes, you know how it is and how often your buyers get beat out on a bid because the winning buyer is paying cash... therefore far more solid in actually closing the deal. They may not have even had the highest bid but due to the lending environment and headaches involved, cash is king. The number of cash buyers are also a clear sign on the financial stability of today's buyers in comparison to four to five years ago with all of the low to no money down loans that pumped up values.... and ended up being sad foreclosure statistics. I can't think of any Las Vegas short sales or REO homes where the buyer originally paid cash for the property. This is a clear sign of stability because even if Las Vegas home values dropped 20% in the next six months, the cash buyers are not going to be bailing out of the Las Vegas real estate market.
Price Ranges of Las Vegas Valley Area Homes Sold:
| Price Range | # | % |
| Less then $100,000 | 1,236 | 34.71% |
| $100,000 to $199,999 | 1,691 | 47.49% |
| $200,000 to $299,999 | 418 | 11.74% |
| $300,000 to $399,999 | 117 | 3.29% |
| $400,000 to $499,999 | 51 | 1.43% |
| $500,000 to $599,999 | 15 | 0.42% |
| $600,000 to $699,999 | 8 | 0.22% |
| $700,000 to $799,999 | 6 | 0.17% |
| $800,000 to $899,999 | 5 | 0.14% |
| $900,000 to $999,999 | 6 | 0.17% |
| $1,000,000+ | 8 | 0.22% |
| Total | 3,561 |
Over 8 properties sold that had sales prices over $1,000,000 in the Las Vegas Valley area. Three of these were located in the 89135 zip code of Las Vegas in Summerlin. 4 were in Henderson with two in Seven Hills, one in Anthem Country Club and one in Lake Las Vegas. Out of the eight, three of them were sold by Prudential Americana Group, REALTORS... the only Real Estate company that had multiple million dollar listings sold in July.
In the Las Vegas High Rise Condominium report, there were four Million dollar plus deals that closed escrow. That will be covered in the next report.
Final Summary
The Las Vegas Real Estate Market has not fallen off of the cliff after the tax credit subsidy ended. Giving you median prices and average prices for Las Vegas real estate really is not going to help you out any since there are so many areas of Las Vegas with completely different characteristics and trends taking place but the information above should clearly indicate that the interest for Las Vegas real estate is still strong at this time.
For Las Vegas Home Sellers, obtaining a personal comparative market analysis direct from me is going to be far more beneficial in your pricing and marketing decisions then reading an overall report. For Las Vegas home owners that need to move on in life and have to do a short sale, over two years of experience in handling and closing short sales tells me there are some things taking place that ordinary or inexperienced short sales agents are not going to pick up on until it's possibly too late. There is NO Longer a Big hook to keep potential buyers from wandering away so true systems need to be in place. Having the right Las Vegas short sales agent is going to make you a better prepared seller for a process that can be extremely frustrating for sellers and their agents who really do not truly understand the process and the behind the scenes process. In other words... don't fall for PR campaigns promising Rainbows and Puppy Dogs.
For Las Vegas Real Estate buyers... what's going on in one neighborhood is not the same as what is taking place in another. Full reports specific to the community being purchased in are always provided when making a final decision based on your financial needs. Feel free to search around and learn more about the great communities that make up Las Vegas Real Estate... and the homes currently for sale in those communities.
Paul Francis - REALTOR
Prudential Americana Group - REALTORS
Las Vegas, Summerlin and Henderson, NV Homes
702.592.3058
Print
Share3 Responses to "Las Vegas Real Estate Report - July Closings"
[...][...]
Posted on Wednesday, August 18th, 2010 at 11:14 AM.
[...][...]
Posted on Wednesday, August 25th, 2010 at 9:53 AM.
[...][...]
Posted on Sunday, August 15th, 2010 at 12:26 PM.