The Las Vegas Real Estate Market Is In The News After Yesterday’s Housing Sales Reports
Well, at least once we got past the sex scandals, and the election stuff.
As I’ve reported to you before, my activity level certainly mirrors what’s being reported in the national press and in investment advisory blogs.
“Good News” on the housing front has been rare in the last year, but it’s starting, which in my opinion signals a leveling off of the downslide. When prices start to increase again is still an unanswered question, but for now, there’s some great prices, great interest rates, and some truly unique property available from some pretty motivated sellers.
After falling for six straight months, sales of existing homes posted an unexpected increase in February which may have reflected more aggressive price cutting by sellers in some parts of the country, a real estate trade group reported.
From CNBC: The dollar rallied across the board Monday on better-than-expected U.S. existing home sales data and J.P. Morgan’s higher offer for Bear Stearns shares, which boosted Wall Street stocks.
Rates on 30-year mortgages dropped below 6 percent this week for the first time in more than a month, reflecting aggressive efforts by the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates to protect the economy from a serious recession.
Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year fixed rate mortgages averaged 5.87 percent this week. That was down from 6.13 percent last week and marked the first time that 30-year rates have fallen below the 6 percent level since the week of Feb. 14.
Rates on 30-year mortgages dropped below the 6 percent threshold in the second week of January and stayed there for six straight weeks as the sharp economic slowdown stirred concerns about a possible recession.
From “National Association Of Residential Real Estate Advisors”
I’ve been holding my tongue for a few months, waiting until I had a good, consistent record to point to, but it seems that demand has returned back to Las Vegas. I would definitely not say that we’re out of trouble, but the data is very clear that the demand in Las Vegas has returned, especially in the sub-$500,000 market.
And Last Weeks Numbers From The GLVAR MLS:
For the week of March 19, 2008, data is obtained from the Greater
Single Family Residence (SFR)
Available – 17,858 (-12 , Last Week 17,870)
Under Contract – 3,921 (+220 , Last Week 3,701)
Days of Supply – 137 (-8 , Last Week 145)
Short Sales – 5,147 (+190 , Last Week 4,957)
Condominiums and Town Homes (CONDO/TH)
Available – 4,762 (+17 , Last Week 4,745)
Under Contract – 552 (+29 , Last Week 523)
Days of Supply – 259 (-13 , Last Week 272)
Short Sales – 775 (+34 , Last Week 741)
Combined SFR + CONDO/TH
Available – 22,620 (+5 , Last Week 22,615)
Under Contract – 4,473 (+249 , Last Week 4,224)
Days of Supply – 152 (-9 , Last Week 161)
Short Sales – 5,922 (+224 , Last Week 5,698)
Is there a house you’ve had your eye on? Is it time for you to start getting ready to buy? Do you know how much home you can afford? Do you have to sell first?
Call us or email us, and let’s discuss it.
