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Rebound! February’s median sold price jumped 7.4 percent over January’s $135,000 to return to $145,000. This 7.4 percent increase follows the 12.9 percent fall we saw in January. Volatility is the word of the day. Year-over-year, February’s median sold price is down 9.9 percent.

February’s median sold price per square foot (ppsf) also increased – rising 1.6 percent to $82.12/sf. Sold PPSF is down 12 percent year-over-year.

The number of houses sold in February set another month-specific record. February’s 453 units sold eclipsed the number of houses sold in any other February on record. The increase sales activity, in conjunction with less properties entering the market, has wreaked havoc with inventory levels. At the moment there are only 980 houses listed as Active on the MLS. By itself this number may not mean much, but when looked at alongside the number of monthly sales, one can see that our market is operating with roughly only a two-month supply of inventory. 980 Active for-sale properties is also noteworthy in that this number is lower than the inventory levels the market experienced during the peak of the buying frenzy during the bubble years.

I first brought the dwindling inventory point to light in October – see Looming inventory problem in Reno-Sparks? At that time, the months supply of inventory was at 3.7 months. It is now at 2.2 months. Folks, we’re in a Seller’s market. Of course, the lack of inventory is not seen across all price points, but at and around the median sold price there is shortage of available Active listings. This thin supply is being manifested as multiple offers scenarios, offers over asking price, lower days on market, and higher incidence of cash offers (see Cash is King – more than ever).

Speaking Days on Market (DOM), I see that our MLS has added a new metric to the search results – median days on market. Regular readers know that the DOM number I report has always been an average, rather than a median. That’s because average DOM was the only metric available to me. Not so any longer. I have updated the table below with median DOM going back about a year. I will fill out the remainder of the historical data when I have more time. I have also left the average DOM in place as a comparison to the median DOM. Going forward, I think I will use only the median DOM. This will be consistent with my use of the medians for the other metrics on which I report. Let me know your thoughts on this?

So, looking at the median DOM for February we can see that the trend has certainly been toward shorter times on the market. This is because many of the properties hitting the market are going pending almost immediately – or at least as soon as the Seller chooses which offer to select. February’s median DOM of 99 days is more than two weeks shorter than February 2011′s median DOM of 115 days.

February sales by type break out as follows:

• REO sale: 42% – up from January’s 40%
• Short sales: 28% – down from January’s 37%
• Equity sales: 29% – UP from January’s 22%

Another effect from the low inventory level is that non-distressed home sellers are experiencing greater interest in their for-sale properties – as can be seen in the increase in “equity sales”.

February sales by price band break out as follows in the table below. Note that nearly a quarter of the houses sold in February sold for less than $100,000; 76% sold for less than $200,000; and 92% sold for less than $300,000.

For those readers who prefer the median sold price for houses and condos combined, February’s 518 sold houses, condos and town homes exhibited a combined median sold price of $132,750 – UP 6.2 percent from January’s combined median of $125,000 for 518 combined sales.

Historical data follows:

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 – March 2012. Note: This information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.

Related post: January median sold price, units, DOM, $/sq.ft.