Las Vegas May 2008 Home Sales Report

The Las Vegas region's median sale price dropped to its lowest level in four years last month as foreclosures continued to weigh heavily on the housing market. The allure of discounted properties helped push sales up to the highest point since last August, though it was still the slowest May for total sales in a decade.

A total of 3,680 new and resale houses and condos sold in the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area (Clark County) in May. That was up 13.2 percent from 3,252 in April but down 18 percent from 4,488 a year ago. May's sales total was the lowest for that month since May 1998, when 3,536 homes sold, according to DataQuick Information Systems of La Jolla, Calif. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.

Sales of existing single-family detached houses bucked the overall trend and rose 10.1 percent from a year ago, marking the second consecutive month in which sales for that category have risen above year-ago levels. April's sales of existing houses were up just under 1 percent from April 2007.

The median price paid in the Las Vegas metro area for all homes combined was $239,940 in May, down 0.9 percent from $242,000 in April and down 17.3 percent from $290,200 in May 2007. The median price for resale single-family detached houses – the category that saw an annual gain in sales – fell 20.8 percent from one year earlier.

The overall median sale price has fallen on a year-over-year basis for 13 consecutive months and is now 23.1 percent below the region's peak $312,000 median in November 2006. May's median was the lowest since it was $233,000 in May 2004.

Another gauge analysts watch suggests greater depreciation: The median price paid per square foot for resale detached houses fell to $122 in May, down 31.8 percent from a year ago and down nearly 36 percent from the $190 peak reached in June 2006.

About 58 percent of the Las Vegas-area homes that resold in May had been foreclosed on at some point in the prior 12 months. Price declines tend to be greatest in housing markets rife with homes selling after or under the threat of foreclosure.

Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA

	# of Sales			Median Price
	May-07	May-08	% Chg	May-07	May-08	% Chg
Resale houses	2,159	2,378	10.1%	$300,000	$237,500	-20.8%
Resale condos	530	361	-31.9%	$184,500	$150,000	-18.7%
New homes	1,799	941	-47.7%	$307,062	$270,315	-12.0%
All homes	4,488	3,680	-18.0%	$290,200	$239,940	-17.3%