The Las Vegas real estate market may be showing signs of recovery.  

The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors (GLVAR) released its local housing statistics  for December 2009 with some interesting findings for the year. 

According to GLVAR, sales of existing homes in Las Vegas were up 64% in 2009.  GLVAR reported 46,879 local housing sales in 2009. That represents a huge spike from 28,618 total sales in 2008 and trails only the 71,963 homes sold during the record year of 2004. The increasing sales continue to be driven by low prices.   GLVAR reports that the average single family home sold in the area in December 2008 was $204,000 in December 2008. By December of 2009, that number had fallen to $165,000.

To read the full report: PDF file Download 2009_12_Dec (released 1-8-10)

Single Family Residential closings for 2009 totaled 38,127 which is a 53% increase over 2008.  Additionally, townhomes and condos saw another 8752 closings which represent a 137% increase over 2008.

Las Vegas Foreclosure Report for 2009

From RealtyTrac's Year-End 2009 Foreclosure Market Report™ :

... a total of 3,957,643 foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 2,824,674 U.S. properties in 2009, a 21 percent increase in total properties from 2008 and a 120 percent increase in total properties from 2007

More than 10 percent of Nevada housing units received at least one foreclosure filing in 2009, giving it the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate for the third consecutive year. Nevada foreclosure activity in December increased 27 percent from the previous month but was still down 22 percent from December 2008. Fourth quarter foreclosure activity in Nevada was down 37 percent from the previous quarter thanks to substantial decreases in October and November.

2009 foreclosure stats would have been worse but for initiatives to slowdown foreclosures from the Lenders as well as the by the Obama Administration - including HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program) and alternatives to foreclosures like short sales.

GLVAR reported a total of 33,974 bank-owned residential properties for 2009.

Las Vegas Short Sales for 2009

According to the National Association of Realtors, almost 500,000 transactions in 2009 were short sales, representing almost 10 percent of all home sales. 

In Las Vegas, a total of 5,422 residential properties sold and closed in 2009. 

2009 Residential Closings Recap

The GLVAR 2009 report quotes a total of 46,879 local housing sales.  However, the 3 individual graphs of residential closing for 2009 totals 47,084 (a 205 discrepancy - I am not certain why).

REO/Bank-Owned sales = 33,974 (72.2%)

Traditional residential sales = 7,688 (16.3%)

Short Sale Closings = 5,422 (11.5%)

Recommended Las Vegas Foreclosure sources:

Search Las Vegas Foreclosures available for sale

Las Vegas Foreclosure Connection

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