Real Estate News: Las Vegas - What Sold in November 2014

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Today's home buyers have 7951 single family homes listed for sale. Buyers who are looking for the carefree lifestyle of a condo or townhomes have 2560 properties available.  This is a total of 10511 options waiting for home buyers.  This is a slight decrease from last month's 10702 homes listed in the Las Vegas MLS.

We suspect the decline may be seasonal.  Fewer sellers are willing to list their home over the holidays.  At this time last year, we had 9146 homes for sale in the Las Vegas MLS.  In last month's Las Vegas Real Estate report, we noted an increase to 10,702 listings. We cautioned that it was "not alarming".  

Short Sales are involved in 1327 of the homes listed for sale (12.6%).  Only 464 of the homes currently listed for sale are foreclosures (4.41%).  In December 2013, the total number of homes listed as a distressed sale in Las Vegas was 24%.  At 17% we're still higher than we would like but it's a big improvement over last year.  

Homes Sold In November 2014

We sold 1972 single family homes last month.  Condos and townhomes added another 449 closings to total 2421 homes sold.  That's a dip from the 2788 sold in October 2014. It's lower than the 2687 sold in November 2013.  November was a short month.  It started on a Saturday, ended on a Saturday with Thanksgiving and Veterans Day thrown in.  We only had 17 business days for homes to close escrow last month.

Distress Sales that Closed in November 2014

Sort Sales were involved in 235 of the homes sold in November. That's only 9.7% of November's homes sold.  Foreclosures were involved in 210 of the homes that sold in November. That accounts for 8.6%. Distress sales accounted for 18.3% of the homes that sold in November. That's a drop from the 20.8% in October 2014. It's a nice improvement over the 24% sold in November 2013.

Financing for the Homes That Sold in November 2014

Cash buyers are still strong in the Las Vegas market. 775 of the 2421 homes that sold in November were purchased with cash. That's 32% of the market. That's 12% lower than November 2013 and the lowest number of cash deals we've seen in more than a year. Conventional mortgages were used in 861 of the transactions (35.6%).  FHA and VA loans were used in 745 of the homes that sold last month (30.8%).  

The decline in the number of cash buyers is a healthy sign for the Las Vegas market. It means entry level and/or first time home buyers have a better chance to get their offer accepted.  We're seeing fewer homes asking for buyers to waive appraisal contingencies now that we have fewer cash buyers. We're beginning to see a shift back to a traditional market. Cash buyers are more common in the luxury market. We expect to see fewer cash buyers in the lower to mid-priced markets.

Sold in 30 Days or Less

Out of the 2421 homes that sold in November, 1125 of them were sold within 30 days of being listed in the MLS. Yes, 46% of the homes that actually sold in November went into contract within 30 days. This is unchanged from October 2014.  It's down from more than 50% this time last year. The slight slowdown is a reflection of the higher number of homes listed for sale. Home sellers should price their home to sell rather than leaving room to negotiate.

Compared to Last Year

The number of homes we have available for sale has only increased by 1365 homes in my December 2013 update. This is a small increase from last year.  Last year we heard predictions that the "shadow inventory" would flood our market in 2014. These predictions of gloom and doom didn't materialize.

The median price of a single family home had dipped 1.3% to $199,900 last month. This month it has recovered with a median of $202K. Well below the peak of $315K from June 2006.

In December 2013 we had a 3.4 month supply of homes for sale. Over the past year, we have averaged 2901 homes sold per month. Today's inventory would last 3.62 months. The current inventory of homes still favors sellers. 

Las Vegas Luxury Homes For Sale

Las Vegas now has 352 single family homes listed for $1 Million or more. We have an additional 89 high rise condos listed for $1 Million or more. We sold 20 single family homes and 3 high rise condos listed at $1 Million or more in November. Over the past year we sold 26.7 luxury homes per month on average.

Top 3 Luxury Homes SOLD in November

The most expensive home sold in November was 4 Paradise Valley Ct in Anthem Country Club.  This 10,683 sf estate home offers 6 bedrooms, 9 baths on a half acre lot with incredible Strip views.  The home was originally listed at $3.295M when it sold for $3.030M on 11/14/14.  It was only listed for 91 days when it sold.

10 Misty Peaks in the Ridges of Summerlin was the second most expensive home sold in November.  This home was built in 2012 on a half acre lot. The home offers 5904 sf of living space with 4 bedrooms, 6 baths in a single story floor plan. This one was only listed for 57 days before going into contract.  List price was $2.95M and it sold for $2.7M on 11/19/14.

Third place went to 6691 Tomiyasu Lane.  This home offered 4 bedrooms, 5 baths in 6349 sf of living space. The home was a new construction, custom home.  Built by Blue Heron, it was initially offered for a base price of $1.499M in the MLS.  The new owners paid for additional upgrades and it closed for $2.635M on 11/14/14.

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