BluefoxToday blog : Southern Nevada existing home sales still strong in January

The same pattern keeps more or less repeating itself when it comes to monthly Las Vegas real estate numbers. In essence, there are some good news and then some less than good news. One way of putting is that the market is simply trying to find its bearings.

As usual, GLVAR, or Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, is providing a detailed look at what happened in January in the local housing sector. Altogether 2,224 single-family houses were closed, amounting to a stellar 126% leap from the year ago figure. That trend has been evident for quite some time now and it does instill some optimism that the battered market is working diligently to right itself. As a caution, the sales are about 11% less than in December, so the slight decline is worth taking note of. Perhaps it's temporary, with people just taking the frigid month, believe me Las Vegas can be cold in January, off from looking at houses or are waiting to see what the Obama administration will do about providing home buyer assistance.

The inventory of property in the MLS changed very little, actually inching lower by 0.8% to 21,935. By Las Vegas standards it's still high and signifies the difficulties the market has in order to start bringing it down to a more sensible level.

And then comes the dreaded portion of the report to all homeowners in Southern Nevada. The median price of homes stays on the slippery surface, sliding further to $160,000, representing a 36% decline from January 2008. Not only that, but it's over 8% lower than in December, which is a much higher number than in previous months. This is largely brought on by foreclosures entering the market and banks getting rid of them speedily at almost any price buyers are willing to pay.

In short, there is still plenty of work to be done in Sin City housing before it can be declared normal. Reasonable.