Las Vegas Home Sales Surprise

LAS VEGAS (DQNews) -- Las Vegas bucked the seasonal norm and logged higher home sales in September than in August -- something seen only three other times in 15 years.

The median sale price held at $130,000 for the third consecutive month as foreclosures continued to gradually loosen their grip on the market, a real estate information service reported.

Last month 67.1% of the Las Vegas-area houses and condos that resold were foreclosure resales, meaning those homes had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months. That was down from 68.4% in August but up from 63.1% in September 2008. Foreclosure resales peaked in April this year at 73.7% of total resales, according to MDA DataQuick. The San Diego firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.

A total of 5,014 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area (Clark County) last month, up 6.3% from August and up 17.3% from a year earlier. It was the highest sales total for a September since September 2006, when 6,088 homes sold.

September was the 13th consecutive month in which total sales rose on a year-over-year basis.

September's sales increase from August was unusual, given that on average sales have dropped 8% between those two months since 1994, when DataQuick's complete Las Vegas-region statistics begin. Sales also rose in September over August in 2008, 2003 and 1997.

The August-to-September sales gain - which followed a relatively sharp and unusual drop in sales from July to August - is likely the result of three factors: Short sales have become more common, and they often take significantly longer to close escrow. That means some mid-summer deals that normally would have closed in August instead closed in September. The allure of historically low mortgage rates and buyers hoping to take advantage of the soon-to-expire federal tax credit for first-time buyers also help explain the relatively strong finish to the summer sales season.