Mar. 01, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Las Vegas home
sales plummet in January
Analyst sees
little chance of sector rebounding this year
By HUBBLE SMITH
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Las Vegas mirrored the downturn in the national housing
market as sales of both new and existing homes fell sharply
in January.
New home sales fell to 2,052 in January, compared with 2,815
sales in the same month a year ago, Dennis Smith of Home
Builders Research reported. It's the lowest January since
2003 when only 1,541 new homes were sold in Las Vegas.
Excluding mid-rise and high-rise units, the number falls to
1,610. Panorama Towers led the month with 242 closings,
followed by Manhattan with 81 and Platinum and Turnberry
Towers with 59 each.
The median price of all recorded Las Vegas new-home sales in
January was $334,945, a 10.3 percent increase from a year
ago.
Nationally, new-home sales plummeted by 16.6 percent in
January from the previous month, the Commerce Department
reported Wednesday. That was the largest decline since
January 1994, when sales slid by 23.8 percent.
The decline in January -- much steeper than analysts
expected -- left sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate
of 937,000, the lowest level since February 2003, the U.S.
figures show.
As sales cooled, so did home prices.
The median sales price of a new home -- where half sell for
more and half for less -- dropped to $239,800 in January,
down 2.1 percent from the same month last year.
In Las Vegas, the resale sector fell 25.6 percent in January
to 2,423 recorded transactions, the lowest number for that
month since 2001. Median price fell by $5,000, or 1.8
percent, to $280,000.
"We think this flat or below year-to-year comparison trend
of resale prices will continue well into 2007," Smith said.
With an inventory of nearly 20,000 homes for sale in Las
Vegas and sales declining, home builders are cutting back on
new permits for residential construction.
Las Vegas-based SalesTraq showed 1,002 new home permits in
January, a 54 percent decline from a year ago. From
September through January, only 4,422 new homes have been
permitted.
"If we continue to see new home permits decline, will that
impact the existing home inventory? The answer to that
question is how much demand will there be in the second
quarter," SalesTraq president Larry Murphy said. "Watch
new-home sales stats very carefully over the next few months
to determine how good, or bad, 2007 will be."
SalesTraq reported 2,135 new-home closings in January, down
26.2 percent, at a median price of $336,309, up 10.7
percent. Existing-home sales were off 14.3 percent at 2,770.
An article on Realtor.org said home sales are sluggish
because prices are just too high for many buyers.
"Buyers are backing off -- not because of a poor job market
or high interest rates -- but because the housing stock is
out of their price range," the article stated.
Dave Crete of Dave Crete & Associates GMAC Real Estate in
Las Vegas said single-family home inventory is at its lowest
level since July and represents less than eight months of
supply. He counted 2,810 contingent and pending properties
in escrow.
"The market continues to change and is not nearly as gloom
and doom as everyone says it is," Crete said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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