Las Vegas Real Estate Market May be Turning Around

After five years of tough sledding, thernLas Vegas real estate market may be turning around. DataQuickrnreports that home sales in the city – which was among the metrornareas hardest hit by foreclosures almost from the beginning of thernhousing crisis – were at a seven-year high in May with morernexpensive home sales and cash sales rising sharply.</p

The median price paid for a home in therncity rose on an annual basis for the 14^th consecutivernmonth as buying shifted toward mid-to-high-end deals and the share ofrnforeclosure resales declined. A record 59.6 percent of sales werernall cash.rn</p

There were 5,005 existing and new homesrnand condos sold in the Las Vegas-Paradise metropolitan area (ClarkrnCounty) in May, up 2.8 percent from the previous month and 3.6rnpercent more than in May 2012. Last month’s sales were the highestrnfor a May since 2006 when 7,615 homes sold and beat the average forrnthe month (going back to 1994 when DataQuick began keeping records)rnby 0.3 percent. </p

Sales, however, were lopsided on thernexisting home side with resales of homes and condos 28.1 percentrnhigher than the May average and new home sales 52.1 percent belowrnthat average. Sales were also skewed toward higher-end homes withrnsales of homes priced below $100,000 down 44.8 percent from May 2012rnand 17.8 percent for homes priced under $200,000. Sales of homesrnpriced between $200,000 and $500,000, a range that would include manyrnmove-up purchases, jumped 76.9 percent. </p

This trend helped push the median pricernof a home in the area to $162,000, the highest since December 2008</bwhen it was $175,000, already well off the November 2006 peak ofrn$312,000. The median bottomed out at $110,000 in January 2012. ThernMay median was 1.3 percent higher than April and 32.8 percent abovernthe price in May 2012. This was the 14^th consecutivernmonth the median price has increased on an annual basis and thoserngains have ranged from 1.7 percent to 34.8 percent and in the doublerndigits for the last 11 months. </p