Las Vegas-area home sales fell last month to the lowest level for a November in five years – the result of a constrained supply of homes for sale, waning affordability and the ongoing decline in investor purchases, according to a report by DataQuick.
DataQuick says the median sale price dipped slightly month-to-month but was still 26% higher than that of a year earlier, marking the 20th consecutive month with a year-over-year gain.
In November, 3,539 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area (Clark County) – down 15.4% from the month before and down 14.6% from a year earlier, according to the report.
On average, DataQuick says sales between October and November have fallen 3.9% since 1994, when the company's complete Las Vegas-area statistics begin.Â
Total home sales for the month were the lowest for November since November 2008, when 3,325 were sold, and were 18.9% below the average number sold during all months of November since 1994. However, resales of houses and condos combined were 5.1% above average for the month, while sales of newly built homes were 62.0% below the November average, according to the data.
The company notes that the 48,203 homes sold in the region between January and November this year is 1.8% lower than the sales tally during the same period last year.
DataQuick says home sales have been limited this year by the thin supply of homes on the market, especially in the lower price ranges. Many owners in affordable neighborhoods still can't afford to sell their homes because they owe more than they are worth, and lenders aren't foreclosing on as many properties, further limiting supply, says the company.
For more on the report, and accompanying charts, click here.