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