Las Vegas NowLas Vegas Home Prices Decline 26.8 Percent, Despite Uptick in Sales

Las Vegas Home Prices Decline 26.8 Percent, Despite Uptick in Sales

LAS VEGAS, Nv. -- The number of homes sold last month was up and so was the median selling price of those homes. But overall, while sales are up significantly from a year ago, prices are down.

The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors has released its October report. Single-family home sales were up 5.3 percent. There were 3,535 homes sold in October and 3,358 were sold in September. Sales are up 30-percent from on year ago when much of the market was at a standstill.

According to the report, the median price of homes inched up slightly in October to $139,000 from $138,000 in September. However, the median price of homes is down 26.8 from one year ago. The median price then was $190,000.

The federal government extended and expanded the homebuyer tax credit. Las Vegas real estate experts say that's helping create an upswing in the housing market.

The good news is you can still take advantage of thousands of dollars in tax credits. The bad news is home prices rose slightly and investors with cash offers make up about 41-percent of all local home sales, meaning getting the bank to accept your bid isn't easy.

Dan Ruddock doesn't need much convincing. For one last time, he's touring a model home that resembles the one he's about to buy. Ruddock is taking advantage of the federal tax credit, low interest rates, and depressed home values. “We're tired of paying rent and realized the prices with the interest rates and the incentives were lower than paying rent. So why not,” he said.

But Ruddock says the journey wasn't easy. He decided to buy a new home when his patience for foreclosures ran dry. “We were just tired of putting in offers with the bank-owned properties and two weeks later not hearing anything and then it's, ‘Oh yeah. We sold the house,” he said.

Realtor Rick Shelton says that's because investors with cash offers make up 42-percent of the local housing market, up some 30-percent from two years ago.

Shelton says while that is making it harder for first time buyers, it also speaks volumes about the local housing market. “Its kind of like when the iPhone came out. If you went the next day at 10 a.m. they were probably out. It's one of those things that’s a positive statement about our market,” he said.

But when it comes to buying a home, Shelton says it's worth the wait in line. For buyers who can take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit, he says the math speaks for itself. ”Today the majority of the loans being done are FHA loans and those require an in of 5-percent with closing cost. So that being said, if we take a $150,000 home and take 8-percent to that 5-percent of the $150,000 would be $7,500. so they are $500 ahead of their total cost of purchaser. So $8,000 is a substantial amount in that case,” he said.

Local experts say the total number of homes sold in October rose about 5-percent and the median price of a single-family home is up about 1-percent. But the tax credits aren't just for first time buyers.

Lawmakers also voted to offer a tax credit of $6,500 to people who have lived in their current home for at least five years and want to buy a new primary residence.