Tons of great numbers this month.
REO inventory down 65% from last year this time; and it is only 17% of the total inventory compared to 33% last year at this time—cut in half. And REO closings are down nearly 50%. REOs were over 80% of the closed units last year at this time, and now they are only 44%.
Short sale inventory down 37% from last year this time; but short sale pending are up 200% and short sale closings are up 214%–short sales are 27% of the closed units last month, compared to 6.42% last year this time. Short sale closings continue to climb at around 2% every month (of the closed inventory)…..at this pace, and at the pace REO closings are decreasing, short sales will surpass REOs as the largest segment of closed units well before the end of the year.
A number that is not reflected in my closed units (since they are only pulled from MLS/GLVAR numbers) are the sales occurring to third parties on the steps of the Nevada Legal News (the so-called “courthouse”). Last month, there were 563 sales to third parties. I have noticed these numbers showing up in other reports of monthly closed units. One concern I have with adding this total to the other closed units number is that many of these sales end up on the MLS as “flips” very quickly. Reporting all of these as like sales may skew the numbers by as much as 10%. This is something to watch in the coming months.
I wish I had time to track how many of these third party sales end up as “flips” (sold again within 90-180 days), and how many are held as longer term acquisitions. That would give a much better reflection of closed unit numbers.
Two new numbers are going to be added to my monthly reports—new listings added in the month and new escrows added in the month. I believe these will give some greater depth to the analysis of market trends. In April, there were 2,941 new listings added and 2,575 new escrows added. After a few months of following these numbers, I will be able to provide additional insight to market trends.
Warm regards,
David Brownell
Broker-Salesperson
Keller Williams Realty Las Vegas
