Janus Equity Management

Vegas Home Sales Up 44%

The volume of November home sales in Las Vegas trailed off 5.5% from October, but spiked 44% from the start of 2009, according a report from MDA DataQuick.

The information provider said the home sale surge comes from the usual factors: price declines, low mortgage rates and the federal tax credit for homebuyers.

Foreclosure resales continued to dominate the Vegas housing market but also continue to gradually decline, according to MDA DataQuick. In November, 64.2% of homes and condos in Las Vegas were foreclosure resales, down from 66.8% in October and 68.1% below levels seen in November 2008. In April 2009, foreclosure sales peaked, taking up 73.7% of the region’s sales activity, but that percentage has declined every month since — perhaps as lenders and servicers have held up foreclosure activity.

The 4,787 new and resale homes and condos was the highest number of sales for a Vegas November since 2006, when 5,803 homes sold. November marked the 15th consecutive month that sales increased from one year earlier.

The region’s median sales price continued to fall on a year-over-year basis — marking 31 consecutive months of declining prices — and by November, it stood 56.8% below its $312,000 peak, recorded in November 2006. This November, the median price paid for all new and resale houses reached $134,900, up 3.8% from October but down sharply 29% from $190,000 last year.

Check out an enlightening read: Where the market went wrong and quotes by big business honchos responsible for the downfall, providing cutting edge sarcasm to portray them in a sometimes comical and often realistic light.
The Two Trillion Dollar Meltdown: Easy Money, High Rollers, and the Great Credit Crash