Las Vegas home prices rise with fewer homes for sale

Home prices rose for the third straight month in April and the inventory of listings shrank to a five-week supply, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported Monday.

The median price for 3,185 single-family houses sold in April was $127,900, up 4 percent from the previous month and up 2.3 percent from April 2011.

It is the first time prices have increased on a year-over-year basis since August 2010, said Kolleen Kelley, president of the Realtors association.

"Of course, this has a lot to do with our shrinking housing inventory," she said. "Based on current demand, our housing supply is down to about four to six weeks."

Total inventory of homes on the Multiple Listing Service decreased 20.3 percent from a year ago to 17,884 in April, while only 4,162 units are available without pending or contingent offers, down 63.4 percent from a year ago.

Housing inventory already was tightening throughout 2011, and it began to contract more rapidly when Assembly Bill 284 – known as the robo-signing law – took effect in October. It requires lenders to prove they have all the necessary documents in place before proceeding with a foreclosure.

Notices of default, which begin the foreclosure process, have plummeted from about 3,000 a month to a few hundred, and the number of bank-owned homes on the market has dwindled to about 800.

Even with fewer houses to sell, existing home sales remain ahead of the record pace set in 2011, when Realtors sold 48,186 houses in Southern Nevada. April sales were up 3.3 percent from the same month a year ago.

Sales of condos and townhomes decreased by 13.5 percent to 739 in April. The median condo price dropped to $59,900, down 1.8 percent from $61,000 in March.

Real estate agent John Free said many prospective homebuyers are getting aced out by corporate investors using their financial power to buy single-family houses in Las Vegas.

Free has seen clients with great credit put in an offer on a bank-owned home with 30 percent to 40 percent down payment and get denied in favor of an all-cash offer.

"It happens over and over," Free said. "I believe in capitalism, but I think there is something wrong with corporations buying houses. If your average millionaire wants to purchase some homes at a great price, that’s the American way. But the average Joe competing with a corporation really stinks."

GLVAR reported that 54.9 percent of all existing homes sold in Southern Nevada were bought with cash in April. It has been running above 50 percent for more than a year.

Nearly 30 percent of all existing homes sold in April were short sales, or lender-approved sales for less than the principal mortgage balance. That’s up from 26.6 percent in March.

Bank-owned homes accounted for 36.9 percent of all existing home sales in April, down from 40.7 percent in March.

The median price of bank-owned single-family houses sold in April was $112,500, up 6.1 percent from $106,000 in March. The median price of single-family houses sold as part of a short sale in April was $120,000, down 0.8 percent from $121,000 in March.

Realtors’ statistics are based on data collected through the MLS, which does not necessarily account for newly constructed houses sold by local builders, for-sale by owners and other transactions not involving a Realtor.

The monthly value of local real estate transactions tracked through the MLS during April decreased by 5.5 percent from March to nearly $508 million.

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.