September median sold price, units, DOM, and $/sq.ft.

The median sales price of September’s 441 houses sold was $169,950. This number represents a 5.6 percent fall from August’s median sold price of $180,000. The number of houses sold in September, 446, was nearly the same as the 447 units sold in August. As was the median sold price per square foot. For the second month in a row the median sold price per square foot was below the $100-level, coming in at $97.83/square-foot. Active listings fell 1.6 percent this month. Pendings dropped 2.6 percent from August. September sales by type break out as follows:

  • Bank-owned properties: 34% – up from August’s 30%
  • Short sales: 32% – down from August’s 37%
  • Equity sales: 33% – down from August’s 34%

September sales by price band break out as follows:

sales price ($000’s) units sold
0 – 99 45
100 – 199 239
200 – 299 102
300 – 399 26
400 – 499 17
500 – 599 7
600 – 699 2
700 – 799 4
800 – 899 0
900 – 999 0
1M+ 4
total 446

For those readers who prefer the median sold price for houses and condos combined, September’s 521 sold houses and condos exhibited a combined median sold price of $160,000 – down 3.2 percent from August’s combined median of $155,000.

Month Year # Sold Sold Price Sold Price per Sq Ft Average DOM # of Listings # of Pendings
Sep 2010 446 $169,950 $97.83 133 2,186 1,473
Aug 2010 447 $180,000 $97.53 127 2,222 1,513
Jul 2010 412 $180,000 $101.74 129 2,158 1,580
Jun 2010 599 $170,000 $100.52 145 1,966 1,625
May 2010 449 $175,615 $102.37 138 1,789 1,804
Apr 2010 509 $179,990 $103.13 129    
Mar 2010 477 $175,000 $99.14 142    
Feb 2010 338 $170,000 $101.68 138    
Jan 2010 346 $167,000 $97.06 134    
Dec 2009 424 $178,000 $101.28 126    
Nov 2009 461 $175,000 $103.61 112    
Oct 2009 561 $180,000 $103.52 123    
Sep 2009 520 $185,948 $103.31 128    
Aug 2009 482 $179,900 $102.64 116    
Jul 2009 515 $180,000 $103.45 126    
Jun 2009 536 $180,317 $104.09 136    
May 2009 426 $175,000 $102.29 139    
Apr 2009 429 $190,000 $105.71 133    
Mar 2009 369 $200,000 $105.85 133    
Feb 2009 293 $205,000 $111.52 132    
Jan 2009 233 $200,000 $113.04 117    
Dec 2008 294 $218,950 $121.74 145    
Nov 2008 269 $220,000 $122.24 152    
Oct 2008 354 $230,000 $131.43 144    
Sep 2008 358 $239,250 $136.72 145    
Aug 2008 321 $250,000 $142.14 140    
Jul 2008 397 $251,000 $145.48 139    
Jun 2008 369 $262,500 $148.05 142    
May 2008 314 $260,215 $152.30 134    
Apr 2008 314 $275,000 $154.05 172    
Mar 2008 238 $274,000 $150.93 166    
Feb 2008 195 $289,000 $156.48 149    
Jan 2008 165 $285,000 $170.23 146    
Dec2007 228 $283,950 $167.22 143    
Nov2007 204 $299,750 $172.24 126    
Oct2007 241 $296,000 $173.55 116    
Sep2007 230 $299,945 $179.46 114    
Aug2007 311 $305,000 $182.49 118    
Jul2007 300 $315,000 $189.78 113    
Jun2007 329 $320,000 $196.78 104    
May2007 364 $313,200 $190.81 107    
Apr2007 320 $309,500 $193.93 121    
Mar2007 324 $315,000 $189.61 121    
Feb 2007 269 $315,000 $191.18 126    
Jan 2007 245 $312,900 $199.79 133    
Dec2006 291 $309,000 $193.51 114    
Nov2006 281 $318,000 $197.32 111    
Oct 2006 363 $312,400 $201.44 105    
Sep2006 344 $314,950 $198.08 98    
Aug2006 349 $325,000 $210.92 94    
Jul2006 373 $335,000 $210.62 93    
Jun2006 424 $339,000 $214.54 91    
May2006 374 $339,950 $219.05 99    
Apr2006 368 $334,600 $212.08 88    
Mar2006 387 $340,000 $215.54 99    
Feb 2006 283 $335,000 $217.29 101    
Jan 2006 274 $365,000 $216.38 98    
Dec2005 333 $355,000 $217.31 89    
Nov2005 385 $349,000 $220.00 81    
Oct2005 484 $359,450 $223.06 77    
Sep2005 531 $354,500 $219.26 77    
Aug2005 582 $360,500 $220.52 73    
Jul2005 608 $353,000 $218.99 71    
Jun2005 679 $350,000 $215.69 69    
May2005 644 $333,250 $209.95 68    
Apr2005 558 $326,750 $207.57 77    
Mar2005 584 $325,000 $200.17 81    
Feb 2005 342 $318,500 $197.54 88    
Jan 2005 341 $310,000 $195.19 85    
Dec2004 450 $312,500 $190.72 77    
Nov2004 448 $309,950 $191.62 63    
Oct2004 512 $299,250 $188.72 53    
Sep2004 496 $292,750 $185.78 61    
Aug2004 505 $285,000 $182.95 56    
Jul2004 544 $304,300 $179.28 61    
Jun2004 533 $285,000 $172.16 65    
May2004 476 $278,750 $169.64 65    
Apr2004 526 $259,950 $158.08 67    
Mar2004 508 $245,000 $142.56 71    
Feb 2004 365 $237,000 unavailable 81    
Jan 2004 379 $229,000 unavailable 78    
Dec2003 441 $240,000 unavailable 82    
Nov2003 444 $220,750 unavailable 78    
Oct2003 430 $219,880 unavailable 76    
Sep2003 587 $223,000 unavailable 71    
Aug2003 512 $220,000 unavailable 75    
Jul2003 533 $210,000 unavailable 77    
Jun2003 475 $207,000 unavailable 77    
May2003 450 $198,950 unavailable 85    
Apr2003 478 $197,750 unavailable 82    
Mar 2003 428 $192,000 unavailable 77    
Feb 2003 321 $186,895 unavailable 79    
Jan 2003 316 $186,000 unavailable 96    
Dec2002 379 $193,500 unavailable 93    
Nov2002 423 $190,000 unavailable 82    
Oct2002 483 $189,900 unavailable 83    
Sep2002 410 $174,000 unavailable 85    
Aug2002 459 $180,000 unavailable 74    
Jul2002 469 $176,000 unavailable 83    
Jun2002 445 $185,000 unavailable 80    
May2002 470 $178,450 unavailable 77    
Apr2002 360 $169,500 unavailable 93    
Mar 2002 377 $169,000 unavailable 84    
Feb 2002 323 $170,900 unavailable 89    
Jan 2002 268 $172,475 unavailable 99    
Dec2001 287 $182,000 unavailable 86    
Nov2001 323 $161,500 unavailable 85    
Oct2001 357 $166,500 unavailable 79    
Sep2001 355 $168,000 unavailable 81    
Aug2001 448 $160,350 unavailable 84    
Jul2001 433 $169,900 unavailable 90    
Jun2001 426 $166,225 unavailable 96    
May2001 404 $162,050 unavailable 97    
Apr2001 370 $158,750 unavailable 94    
Mar 2001 385 $159,900 unavailable 97    
Feb 2001 294 $159,950 unavailable 103    
Jan 2001 264 $165,000 unavailable 102    
Dec2000 272 $156,500 unavailable 100    
Nov2000 355 $154,500 unavailable 93    
Oct 2000 348 $153,000 unavailable 98    
Sep2000 356 $160,000 unavailable 104    
Aug2000 412 $163,375 unavailable 94    
Jul2000 368 $155,000 unavailable 110    
Jun2000 466 $165,845 unavailable 104    
May2000 363 $158,000 unavailable 105    
Apr2000 312 $155,000 unavailable 113    
Mar 2000 339 $162,700 unavailable 102    
Feb 2000 244 $149,620 unavailable 110    
Jan 2000 217 $156,000 unavailable 112    
Dec 1999 264 $155,000 unavailable 118    
Nov 1999 293 $149,900 unavailable 98    
Oct 1999 289 $147,895 unavailable 108    
Sep 1999 311 $157,000 unavailable 106    
Aug 1999 360 $148,500 unavailable 112    
Jul 1999 375 $147,800 unavailable 105    
Jun1999 372 $150,000 unavailable 103    
May 1999 307 $145,500 unavailable 106    
Apr1999 324 $151,700 unavailable 111    
Mar 1999 308 $151,000 unavailable 121    
Feb1999 249 $148,900 unavailable 120    
Jan 1999 210 $143,000 unavailable 115    
Dec 1998 265 $140,000 unavailable 118    
Nov 1998 279 $153,000 unavailable 126    
Oct1998 286 $142,825 unavailable 115    
Sep 1998 279 $144,500 unavailable 102    
Aug 1998 331 $145,000 unavailable 113    
Jul 1998 335 $150,000 unavailable 108    
Jun 1998 351 $148,500 unavailable 103    
May 1998 302 $145,500 unavailable 99    
Apr 1998 235 $149,000 unavailable 111    
Mar 1998 267 $142,500 unavailable 114    
Feb 1998 201 $139,900 unavailable 126    
Jan 1998 165 $149,490 unavailable 131    

Note: The medians table above is updated on a monthly basis. The median home price data reported covers the cities of Reno, Nevada and Sparks, Nevada [NNRMLS Area #100]. Residential data includes Site/Stick Built properties only. Data excludes Condo/Townhouse, Manufactured/Modular and Shared Ownership properties. Data courtesy of the Northern Nevada Regional MLS – October 2010.  Note: This information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.

22 comments

  1. skeptical

    Is a comment from a realist actually necessary?

    Would love to hear an explanation from Smarten (in his self-imposed exile).

    Why would someone want to try to catch a falling knife? …unless they are making a purely emotional decision to buy property in Reno.

  2. Steve Watts

    The median home price in California rose 9% in August to $318,660, the 10th consecutive year-over-year monthly increase. (NAR)

  3. Sully

    The state’s median peaked at $484,000 in early 2007 and bottomed out at $221,000 in April 2009. How the hell did it increase for 10 consecutive years?

  4. geopower

    Sully,
    I think Steve meant it was the 10th month in a row that showed a y-o-y increase.

  5. Sully

    geo, thanks for clearing that up.

  6. Reno Ignoramus

    So the median is down 9% from where it was one year ago, but back to where it was in February and June. I suppose we can now all await 97 comments arguing about what this means.
    One third of all sales continue to be by a bank, and another one third by a seller who has no equity and takes no cash out of the sale. No doubt some percentage of those so-called “equity sales” are by sellers getting out by the skin of their teeth with little equity. When less than 1 out of 3 sellers becomes a “move-up” buyer in a market where one half of all houses sell for less than $170K, I suggest that this market is far from healthy.

  7. Kyle

    “When less than 1 out of 3 sellers becomes a “move-up” buyer in a market where one half of all houses sell for less than $170K, I suggest that this market is far from healthy”.

    Only about 145 houses sold last month that were not an REO or a short sale. It would be interesting to know what the median sales price was for those 145 sales. I suspect it was probably higher than the over all median, because I suspect that the REO sales and short sales as a group sold for lower than the “equity sales”.
    I sure as hell would not like trying to sell a house for $500K in Reno-Sparks today.

  8. billddrummer

    I notice that the median price/s.f. stayed below $100, to $97.89.

    If there are any builders out there, I’d be interested in knowing whether your cost to construct is higher or lower than $97.89, considering land, development costs, infrastructure, vertical construction, time value of construction financing, and hold time til sale.

    And how you plan to stay in business if it’s higher.

  9. William

    My wife is an escrow officer at a local title company. She has not had a concurrent escrow where a person person sells one house and then buys another house at the same time in longer than she can remember.
    Move-up buyers are few and far between these days.

  10. Carney

    billd,
    Here is what the builders will tell you. They will tell you that they are not trying to compete with the resale market, which is comprised 66% of REOs and short sales. You know, REOs that are trashed with holes in the sheetrock and short sales with smelly carpets and broken window seals and that take 8 months to close escrow. They will tell you they are selling brand new houses with beautiful new appliances and fixtures and lawns that are not dead. So yes, they are a bit more expensive, but clearly the best value.
    This is the new marketing spin fron the homebuilders now.

  11. JR

    Carney,
    Perhaps you could clarify how this is exactly a spin? Looks to me like you are stating it how it is. And what kind of confidence will buyer’s of distressed properties have now that there is an enormous amount of foreclosure errors going on around the country and Title Insurer’s now questions whether or not they will insure title on a foreclosed home?

  12. smarten

    I’m here Skeptical –

    I told you last month you should imagine what my response would be. Apparently you can’t. Unit sales continue at a healthy pace, and the median sales price continues to girate within the range of $170K-$180K. Nobody’s saying the market is “healthy.” But as a whole [rather than picking and choosing any particular price strata], it continues to scrape along where it has been scraping along for well over a year [far from “a falling knife”]. As unit sales fall [and they will (due to seasonal factors)], there’s actually a fair chance the median sales price may rise a bit from where it sits now.

  13. E.Edward

    And its a fair chance that it may not snow this year?…. Now back to reality

    The long awaited price correction has resumed,….Not even the artificially low interest rate can derail this foreseeable train-wreck

    One should be grateful they waited and didn’t buy with the rest of the proud new home owners that now find themselves instantly in the negative?

  14. Guy Johnson

    Kyle, I like your question regarding the median sold price for the different types of sales. Here is the breakout for September sales…(I’ve also included average days on market [DOM] for each type):

    * Bank-owned properties: $145,000 [90 DOM]
    * Short sales: $168,000 [191 DOM]
    * Equity sales: $228,150 [121 DOM]

    These are interesting numbers; I think I may start including them in my monthly posts. Thanks for the suggestion.

  15. Kyle

    Thanks Guy for the info on the “equity sales”. As I suspected, the median for non-distressed sales is significantly higher than for distressed sales. This is not a surprise, and it shows the big impact the distressed sales are having on the overall median. And at $228K, even the non distressed sales are not exactly anything to brag about.

    Again, I’m really glad I am not trying to sell a $500K house in this market.

  16. Guy Johnson

    R.I., I’ve also added a price banding table for you in the post. I know you like to see sales broke out by prices.

    Kyle, you’re welcome.

  17. Joe

    So BoA temporarily halts forclosures in NV, too now. Lately I’ve been hearing of so many people I know that haven’t been paying their mortgage for over a year because they had to default in order to get a mediation meeting with their lender to modify their loan, which meeting is still months into the future. I’m tired of waiting this thing out. I used to think another big price crash was coming. Now I just see a long drawn out mess, with many would-be forclosures not happening. Especially if title insurers start refusing to insure forclosed home sales because of the banks’ sloppiness. I think more loans will be modified, including principal reductions, to keep people in their homes. Which I’ve decided may just be better than the alternative. I’m giving in and making an offer next week to buy. Waited long enough.

  18. Sully

    from Mortgage News Daily:

    Foreclosure Moratorium Slows the Home Price Recovery Process

    Bank of America just became the first bank to suspend foreclosure sales across all 50 states. This follows news that JP Morgan Chase and GMAC would self impose eviction moratoriums and REO sales in 23 states. The next step is a nationwide freeze on foreclosure sales and new evictions by all servicers.

    These legal actions only serve to further delay the inevitable. Ultimately these foreclosed properties will hit the market some six to twelve months from now and further add to the inventory of unsold homes on the market. Our sluggish economy is in no shape to absorb a sudden flood of foreclosed properties. Delaying the disposition of REO inventory slows the home price recovery process.

    This makes it painfully obvious that these proceedings represent the proverbial nail in the coffin to insure further housing price declines. We probably won’t see much in the way of a decline this quarter but I am willing to bet that in the next three quarters we will experience negative results.

    Until these issues are resolved, the housing industry will continue to limp along at a snail’s pace, suffering from an overhang of shadow inventory and the looming threat of a downward spiral in home prices.

  19. smarten

    Can we have a little bit of positive real estate news instead of the constant flow of negatively from the usual suspects?

    This morning the FNMA 30 year conforming fixed par rate [the rate at which FNMA will purchase originators’ pooled mortgages] assuming a 60-day lock dropped to its lowest rate EVER [ http://www.efanniemae.com/syndicated/documents/mbs/apeprices/archives/cur30.html ] – 3.66471%. Wells Fargo Bank [which isn’t the least expensive originator out there] is offering a 4.25% rate with a very small .125% origination fee. And if you’re willing/able to absorb the higher payment associated with a 15 year fixed rate, we’re talking 3.5%-3.625%! So Joe, as long as you can find what you’re looking for; at tomorrow’s [6 or more months from now] arguably lower price [assuming it declines as the permabears on this blog are predicting]; using today’s historically low purchase money financing rates [which very well may be lower than the rates offered 6 or more months from now]; what’s your real downside? Sure prices could fall off the cliff from here [but haven’t they already?], but if they do, I suspect they’ll drag everything else in this economy down with them [so what difference will it make?].

    One man’s wife is another’s…well, you get the picture. So for those attempting to [re]finance with no plans on selling anytime soon, it’s like being a kid in a candy factory! Once interest rates start rising, and make no mistake they will [and by quite a bit no less], you’ll look back on today’s mortgage rates and only wish you should’ve, could’ve, would’ve.

  20. Reno Ignoramus

    Thank you Guy for the price band info. I personally do find this info of value. As has been the case for well over a year now, there is hardly any market at all over $300K in Reno-Sparks. Only 13% of all sales last month were for more than $300K.

    And you are correct Kyle, only 3% of all sales last month were for $500K or more.

  21. billddrummer

    Guy,

    Thanks for the price-banding chart. Truly illustrative.

    Let’s see…96.16% of sales were under $500K
    And 92.33% of sales were under $400K

    How does the price banding on listings compare to actual sales?

    If the average listing price is still over $300K, it seems to me that listing prices remain sticky.

    Which will do nothing to normalize the market.

    Again, great data.

    Thanks.

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