November 14, 2012 (Shirley Allen)

With less days to record sales in September, home sales in the Las Vegas area declined on a monthly basis but remained unchanged from the previous month on a daily basis according to the latest data released from DataQuick while home prices continued to improve.

A total of 4,090 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area in September. Sales were 15.0 percent lower than the 4,795 homes sold in August and were 12.8 percent lower than the 4,692 homes sold in September of 2011. Home sales for the month were the lowest since September 2007.

Sales for the month were expected to be lower because September only had 19 business days compared to a normal month that typically has 21 or 22 business days. On a daily basis, homes sales were virtually unchanged from the previous month.

Home sales in the region typically decline about eight percent between August and September and were 13.0 percent below the average number of homes typically sold during the month.

Cash buyers accounted for 52.4 percent of the purchases in September, which was up from 50.9 percent in August and up from 51.2 percent a year earlier. The record for cash purchases was in September 2011, when 56.7 percent of the sales were for cash.

The price that cash buyers paid for their purchases in September increased to $106,500 from $105,000 in August, and was up from $83,000 in September of last year.

Absentee buyers, usually investors and vacation home buyers, accounted for 48.5 percent of all homes sold in September, down from 48.6 in August. The prices they paid for their purchases increased to $112,500 from $110,000 in August and were up from $90,000 in September of 2011.

The overall median price paid for new and resale homes and condos in September was $137,000, up from $133,000 in August and up from $115,000 in September of last year. It was the sixth consecutive month that year-over-year prices have improved after 21 consecutive months of declines.

September’s median price was still 56.1 percent below the peak median price of $312,000 in September 2006.

Foreclosure re-sales accounted for19.2 percent of total re-sales, down from 21.8 percent in August, and short sales accounted for 42.6 percent of total re-sales, up from 38.3 percent the previous month. Foreclosure re-sales were at their lowest level since September 2007.

Tags: Las Vegas real estate, existing home sales, distressed properties, resale homes, condos, cash buyers, investors, median price

Source:
DataQuick