Las Vegas Housing Market Seen Showing Improvement

Often pointed to as the poster child for real estate excess, the Las Vegas housing market is showing some signs of improvement, local agent Rob Jenson reports in his monthly market study. "Lower interest rates and a drop in the average sales price to under $158,500 for homes priced under $1 million is attracting more bargain-hunting foreclosure and short sale buyers," says Mr. Jenson, whose Jenson Group flies under the Re/Max banner. The recent spate of sales in Sin City's lower price ranges has brought down the inventory to a healthy 5.9-month supply. And if houses under contract are subtracted, the supply drops to 3.1 months. That's the good news. The bad news is that more than four out of five sales are still distressed deals, with foreclosures outselling short sales, seven-to-one, even though there are four times more short-sale properties on the market as REO. Overall, there were nearly 19,000 listings on the market in July, according to Mr. Jenson's "Las Vegas Real Estate Market Report." Some 3,300 properties sold in the month — 2,750 of them under duress — at an average price of $158,392, a drop of $84,620 from July a year ago.