Ruth Roth, ABR
702-370-2700
Las Vegas Existing Home Sales
Posted on January 28, 2009
Las Vegas Existing-Home Sales Show Strong Gains In December
Existing-home sales rose unexpectedly while inventory declined due to a surge of sales in the West. Existing-home sales – including single-family, town homes, condominiums and co-ops – jumped 6.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 4.74 million units in December from a downwardly revised pace of 4.45 million units in November. For all of 2008 there were 4,912,000 existing-home sales, which was 13.1 percent below the 5,652,000 transactions recorded in 2007. This is the lowest volume since 1997 when there were 4,371,000 sales. It appears some buyers are taking advantage of much lower home prices. The higher monthly sales gain and falling inventory are steps in the right direction, but the market is still far from normal balanced conditions. Buyers will continue to have an edge over sellers for the foreseeable future. With historically low mortgage interest rates, flexible sellers, a large inventory, and homes that are selling for less than replacement construction costs in much of the country, buyers who’ve been on the fence should take a closer look
