Gain in home prices easing Mar. 24, 2006 The existing home market in Las Vegas has applied the brakes, slowing to 7.7 percent growth in median price and 2.4 percent in monthly sales, local research firm SalesTraq reported. February statistics show a median price of $279,900 for existing homes, compared with $260,000 in the same month a year ago. There were 3,116 closings, up from 3,042 last year. The volume of resale transactions has steadily declined from a high of 5,648 in August, and the median price has dropped from a high of $284,970 in December. "My Realtor friends have been whining about how slow the resale market is," SalesTraq President Larry Murphy said. "Volume is down and prices are not increasing that much." Murphy said the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors could see a drop in membership over the next few months after peaking last year at about 15,000. Part-timers who rushed to get a real estate license when the market was hot may not renew their license when it slows down, he said. The National Association of Realtors reported a 5.2 percent increase in existing home sales for February after five straight months of decline. KB Home, the largest builder in Las Vegas with 3,936 closings in 2005, announced that orders for new homes fell in the first two months of the year and cancellation rates rose, an indication that revenue will be down for the first quarter. KB's new home orders in the Southwest fell 30 percent for the three-month period ending in February from a year ago. Last year, KB Home generated sales of $9.44 billion, a 34 percent increase over 2004. Analysts say the numbers signal a "soft landing" for the booming housing industry, which has contributed to the national economy with employment growth and increased household equity. "It's not a slowdown," said Monica Caruso, spokeswoman for the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association. "It's a stabilization. We know from our business models you cannot sustain double-digit increases indefinitely. We've been saying that since 2004. What we saw in 2005 and now in 2006 is a return to where the market was and where it needs to be." People got "spoiled" by record home appreciation and sales over the past few years in Las Vegas, Murphy said, but it's still a good market for buying a home and there will be no crash. New home sales rose 22 percent in February to 2,853 and median prices jumped 11.5 percent to $313,990, according to SalesTraq. Builders are propping up new home prices with buyer incentives, Murphy said. Centex Homes is advertising $55,000 in incentives, though no details are given. "Half to three-quarters of new homes out there will give you an incentive of one kind or another," he said. The average number of days a home stays on the market rose to 59 in February, four days more than a year ago. That's still considered a health market. "People in Fort Wayne, Ind., would be ecstatic with that," Murphy said. If you are planning to relocate in the Las Vegas area, contact us for a prompt response to any questions you have about the Las Vegas real estate market. We invite you to visit our website to view updated daily listings of Las Vegas homes at Free Las Vegas Homes MLS Search |
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