Valley Home Sales Dampen In April

Southern Nevada’s housing market failed to bloom in April with a scant 1,381 sales valley wide for a precipitous 39.1 percent drop from a year ago, reports the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. Signs of recovery still appear far off with a record 22,242 units available last month, or 25.1 more than in 2006.

Median home prices, meanwhile, remained flat at $305,000 in April, same as the month before, but 1.6 percent less than 12 months ago.

“We’re not expecting to see any significant increases in price or sales through the summer months, but we should still see the kind of stable market we have experienced lately,” said Devin Reiss, GLVAR president. “As for inventory, this may be the new reality for a while. The bright side is that prices are holding steady.”

Condos and townhome sales also saw little sunshine in April with 1,358 sales valley wide, a 14.8 percent drop from March, but a 4.5 percent improvement from 2006. There were a whopping 6,178 condo/townhome units available last month or 62.6 percent more than a year ago. Yet median sale prices inched-up to $202,000 for a slight 1.1 percent gain over March, but still 0.5 percent less than a year ago.

There was a total of $538 million in home sales in April, which is 35 percent less than last year, while condos and townhomes racked up $76.6 million in total sales last month. That was a 34.5 percent drop over 2006.

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