Las Vegas Real Estate Prices
Average Joe Median Price Index
December was not nice to owners of Las Vegas real estate. Last month posted the largest monthly decline in Las Vegas and Henderson home prices for the year. To emphasize, it was the largest decline this decade.
According the Greater Las Vegas Association of REALTORs, the entire mls saw a decline of 4.7% on median pricing to $260,000 in December from the 
November mark of $273500. The year-over-year decline (12/2006 to 12/2007) is 15%. Thirteen percent of the 15% (85%) happened in only the last 4 months! Our market is broad and diverse. Strong activity in the million plus market continues to hold the market medians high. What about the average Joe and their home?
A typical home owner of a 1500 to 2500 square foot home is facing some very real challenges today. Here are some numbers:
1500sf home
December Median vs November vs Dec 2006 vs Peak
$217900 -7.9% -20.7% -26.1%
2000sf home
December Median vs November vs Dec 2006 vs Peak
$262450 -11.7% -18.5% -27.4%
2500sf home
December Median vs November vs Dec 2006 vs Peak
$306950 -9.5% -32.5% -36.4%
The majority of the year-over-year declines have happened since August – up to 80% of the total 12 month decline. Tighter lending, increased bank repo inventory, short sale inventory and builder listed spec homes have led to this acceleration of declining home values.
Look for further reductions in home prices as institutional sellers continue to command significant share of the homes selling. We have not seen the bottom.
January 9, 2008 at 1:59 pm
The prices in the UK are set to drop this year as well… economy slow down will hit parts of england hardest first by the looks of it.
January 11, 2008 at 5:54 am
[...] effect on the market was evident. December saw the greatest decline of prices this year in my Average Joe Index. Closings in the first 10 days of January shows greater market growth of bank sales. As [...]
January 11, 2008 at 1:48 pm
The silver lining is the unbelievable investment opportunities in this market – at these prices investors can break even on rentals and the people who couldn’t afford to buy can now realize that dream. As the #1 Growing City in America, thiis decline may not last long as we start employing the over 200,000 people to fill the new jobs over the next few years. There is over $40 Billiion in construction underway and the $7.8 billion dollar MGM City Center project will open in approximately 1+ year. As is customary they start hiring about 6 months prior to the opening!
We may get off to a slow start in the beginning of 2008 but it is hard to imagine the #1 Growing City in the country will slow down for very long!
January 11, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Great for the buyers, but not so great for the sellers. There are some great buying opportunities to be had in the coming months with the bank repos. When will the bottom hit who knows. In my opinion it will happen sooner than most people think, with the over 285,000 jobs estimated to come to Las vegas in the next few years. The housing market is alot like the stock market, many people want to time the bottom, but wind up missing it becuase they are too afraid to get in. You don’t win if you don’t enter.
January 13, 2008 at 12:48 am
[...] even quite evident at the lower end of the market. As a case in point, here’s the latest Average Joe Median Price Index. One thing that is not obvious from this summary is that the drop is on declining volume. In [...]