Reno Fine Homes Blog

The Washoe County housing market showed signs of life from April to May, spurred by sales of new single-family residences and condominiums.Sales of new single-family residences saw an uptick of 4.7 percent in May from the previous month, according to the latest housing sales report from the University of Nevada, Reno’s Center for Regional Studies.New condominiums reported a 95.3 percent increase in month-to-month sales.Despite the increase in sales of new single-family residences, home sales still were down 1.2 percent overall as sales of existing single-family homes dropped 4.2 percent from April to May. The median sales price for new and existing single-family residences saw a slight increase of 0.3 percent to $300,000, fueled by a 2.1 percent increase in the median price of existing single-family homes.”There was a definite increase in new construction from April,” said Brian Kaiser, a housing and real estate analyst with the center. “Existing single-family home sales were down slightly in May from April, but median prices actually edged up 2 percent from the previous month — a good sign that the market is not free-falling to the bottom.”Total sales of new and existing condominiums also managed a 32.2 percent month-to-month increase, despite sales of existing condos being down by 29.5 percent in May compared to the previous month. The median price for new and existing condos in May was $190,320, an increase of 1.7 percent.Sales of new and existing single-family residences also remain significantly down from last year, reporting a 48.8 percent decrease. The median sales price for new and existing homes also was down 8.3 percent from last year’s price of $327,000.Sales of new and existing condos saw a year-to-year increase of 27.8 percent, driven by a 180 percent increase in new condo sales. In Reno, new condos reported 72 sales in May compared to 71 for new single-family homes. Median condo prices remained flat at $193,320, down 0.8 percent compared to last year.Overall, the numbers show that the area has not hit bottom quite yet, Kaiser said. But the report also shows some positive signs.”These numbers are certainly telling me that there is life in this market, and that the worst days are behind us,” Kaiser said. “I’d expect to see several consecutive months of increasing — or at least flat — sales rates before considering the market on the upswing.”The boost in new property sales is likely the result of ongoing efforts by builders to offer strong incentives to home buyers, said Wayne Capurro, president of the Reno/Sparks Association of Realtors. But although the sales of new properties are encouraging, sustaining those numbers will be difficult if the existing home market does not bounce back.”Prices have gotten too low, and I just don’t see how they can build these new houses and sell them without losing money, especially with the higher cost of fuel and everything else,” Capurro said. “The existing home market has to improve first.”The recent uptick in interest rates and unemployment, although slight, also is cause for concern because they still take some potential buyers out of the market, Capurro said. Short sales and bank-owned properties also remain an issue.Such properties account for 40 percent of inventory in the market but two-thirds of all sales, which should push down median sales prices for two to three more months as they go through the system, Capurro said.Given the number of bank-owned properties in the market, the slight increase in median sales prices in May comes as a surprise because experts were expecting continuous declines through the first half of the year, Capurro said. It also shows that the market might be close to the bottom, Capurro said.”I believe that we’re kind of bouncing along the bottom,” Capurro said. “We’re already seeing increased activity in the low- to moderately priced properties, so it appears the market is starting to heat from the bottom up. Even with the uptick in unemployment and interest rates, it’s still a relatively good environment for buyers. The affordability of homes hasn’t been better than it is right now in approximately five years.”

By Jason Hidalgo • jhidalgo@rgj.com • June 25, 2008

  

 Existing home sales for Washoe County saw a slight month-to-month increase in May but are still down compared with the same period last year, according to the latest monthly report from the Reno/Sparks Association of Realtors. Washoe County had 311 existing home sales in May, up 1 percent from April and down 14 percent from May 2007. Reno had 158 existing home sales, a 3 percent increase over the previous month and a 23 percent decrease from the same period last year.

Sparks had 98 existing home sales, down 4 percent from last month but up 7 percent from May last year.The numbers are based on data from the Multiple Listing Service and also includes sales of bank-owned properties. The properties are limited to existing “stick-built single family dwellings” and do not include condominiums, townhomes and modular homes.The median home price in May for an existing single-family residence in Washoe County was $260,430, a 6 percent decrease from a month ago and 17 percent lower from a year ago. Wayne Capurro, president of the Reno/Sparks Association of Realtors, attributed the lower prices to the high number of bank-owned properties going through the system.“Banks are trying to jump ahead of each other to get their properties sold,” Capurro said. “They really want to reduce their inventory of bank-owned properties.”One positive note is that the pending home sales index jumped from 81 to 86, according to the National Association of Realtors, Capurro said. The West was the only region in the country to show a year-over-year increase in the index, he said.

By Jason Hidalgo • jhidalgo@rgj.com • June 17, 2008  

Sales of new and existing homes in Washoe County rose in April, the third straight month of sales gains.

Sales jumped 23 percent, according to the latest report from the University of Nevada, Reno’s Center for Regional Studies. The report uses data from the Washoe County Assessor’s Office.Sales of new and existing condominiums saw an increase as well, up 8.8 percent from March to April. Sales for both single-family residences and condos remain down compared to the same period last year, however, with single-family residence sales down 41.6 percent and condos were down 9.4 percent from April last year.The median sales price for new and existing single family homes in Washoe County for April was $299,000, the same price last month and down 8.9 percent from April 2007. New and existing condominiums saw median sales prices drop 22 percent from March to April.”Prices are still trending down but it’s a good sign to see month-to-month sales on the upswing,” said Brian Kaiser, housing and real estate analyst for the Center for Regional Studies. “I don’t think we’ll truly be able to say we’ve found the bottom of this market until we see several consecutive months of data showing flat or increasing sales volume and flat or increasing transaction prices.”Existing homesExisting home sales were responsible for the overall increase in single-family home sales in Washoe County, up 39.6 percent in April compared to March. In contrast, new home sales were down 0.9 percent in April from the previous month.The decrease bucks the national trend for new single-family home sales, which saw an unexpected increase of 3.3 percent in April over March, according to a report released Tuesday by the Commerce Department.Median prices for new single family homes also rose to $246,100 nationwide in April, a 9 percent increase from March and a 1.5 percent increase from the same period last year.Sparks saw the biggest increase in single-family home sales in April, fueled by a 124 percent jump in sales of existing single-family residences as sales of new homes remained flat. Sales of new single-family residences in Reno dropped by 8.3 percent while existing single-family homes saw a sales increase of 17.5 percent. Condominium gains in April were also spurred by existing units, existing condo sales were up 100 percent compared to a 25.9 percent decline in new condo sales.Overall, the numbers from the report are encouraging, said Wayne Capurro, president of the Reno/Sparks Association of Realtors. Median home prices will likely continue to see declines in the next couple of months as banks continue to unload foreclosed properties. But that will also increase affordability for housing, Capurro said. The continued month-to-month sales increases are a good sign as well, Capurro added.”I’m not ready to say that this is the end (of the housing decline), but this sure looks to me like the beginning of the end,” Capurro said. “With increasing sales numbers and decreasing median prices — those two things can’t continue very long.”Supply concernsInventory remains the key question, said Ken Wiseman, broker-owner of Reno Rancho Realty; the spring months typically bring more buyers into the market but they also bring more sellers who add to the inventory. With the housing crisis making it difficult for existing home owners to trade up, the market has to primarily rely on first-time home buyers, which limits the number of buyers available, Wiseman said.Wiseman also pointed out that despite the month-to-month sales increases, inventory in the Reno-Sparks market rose from 4,411 in May 20 to 4,494 as of Tuesday, according to Multiple Listing Service data. Using the 354 home sales reported in April by the MLS, the existing inventory equates to a 12.7-month supply of homes, far higher than the normal three- to six-month supply. In contrast, inventory nationwide dropped from 11.1 months in March to 10.6 months in April, according to the Commerce Department.

“Everybody can say sales are up, sales are up, sales are up, but inventory’s up, too, which brings you back to the basic economics of supply and demand,” Wiseman said. “Sales need to come way up to eat into our inventory and I’m not seeing it. When you’re dealing with 4,494 houses in the market, that’s just insane. This spring is going to be our big test.”

By Jason Hidalgo • jhidalgo@rgj.com • May 28, 2008