BluefoxToday blog : Vegas housing market about to pick up?

A lot of attention has lately been directed toward the mortgage industry where lenders continue to struggle with rising foreclosures and try to keep their balance sheets somewhat respectable. Washington also announced an interest rate freeze plan that on the outset received proper headlines, but on closer scrutiny it appears to be more politics than a sincere attempt to help those in need.

In the meantime, Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, or GLVAR, compiled its monthly statistics for November and one sector indicates that the market is working actively on trying to right itself. It's the single-family house inventory that deserves a special mention, as it dropped slightly to 23,494 from October. The significance actually is that this is the third consecutive month it moves lower. If it is a lasting trend it might be justifiable to say that the bottom is here or at least very near. On the other hand, the winter months are typically slow and sellers may have withdrawn their listings for now and sign up again in a few months.

In other news on the Southern Nevada market, the median single-family home price was reported at $273,500, a decline of 11.2% from last year. Although it is double digits, it still can be called reasonable and non-alarming. Whereas sales are off the pace 37.4%, about where it has been for months.

The condominium and townhome median price is at $180,000 and it signifies a 10% fall from a year ago, mirroring closely the single-family drop. This category is doing a little worse on the sales side which gave up 50%.

If the market can sustain the downward movement in the listing inventory, then there is reason to be optimistic about a soon-to-begin recovery. But the road ahead can remain bumpy, as foreclosures and short sales are expected to trouble the real estate market for some time to come.