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Though home purchases at foreclosure auctions and sales of foreclosed or underwater homes used to dominate the Las Vegas home market, making up 73% of resales in the area in 2011, that number is down to just 3.3%, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.The Review Journal reports that, according to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, sales of underwater or foreclosed homes are “near historically low levels,” comprising just 2.4% of resales last month, and distressed sales are have essentially vanished.
The city’s dwindling volume of vacant homes is another mark for recovery in Las Vegas. Earlier this year, Review-Journal reported that the housing market in Las Vegas was stabilizing for the first time in decades.
The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors (GLVAR) found that buyers purchased 3,168 single-family houses in August, which is up 0.3% in July and an annual increase of 3.1%. Fewer homes were on the market in August at 7,766, which is down 0.5% from the prior month.
Las Vegas was “ground zero” for the real estate bubble in the mid-2000s, mostly due to growing property values, rising construction, and home flipping. According to the GLVAR, the average price of single-family homes peaked in June 2006 at $315,000—$398,300 in today’s money—nearly $88,100 above last month’s average.
Southern Nevada was also hit hard during the Great Recession as foreclosures, falling property values, and abandoned real estate projects. The median-sales price of a single-family house hit $118,000 in January 2012, which is 62.5% drop from the peak.
The Review-Journal states that Las Vegas home prices have been a “roller coaster” over the past 15 years. Janet Carpenter, President of the GLVAR, said prices soared in the mid-2000s, fell in the Great Recession, and have been “ramping back up” since 2012.
“If you look at it that way, I guess you can say we’re coasting along right now,” Carpenter said.
