February’s Monthly Market Reports have been released by the Reno/Sparks Association of REALTORS®. Click on the links below to access February’s reports.
Conclusions from the Reno/Sparks Market Report:
- February sales were the highest number reported for the month of February in MLS history. Beginning in December 2010, this is
the third consecutive month the market has seen record or near record numbers in year over year sales. - Year-to-date 2011 sales are 72 sales ahead of 2010.
- Year over year February median sales price is down 5.3%. February typically begins the trend of improving prices after the winter cool down.
- At the current median price and historic low interest rates, an individual or family with an income of about $42,000 can afford the median price home in the greater Reno/Sparks area
These reports contain some nice graphs, for example…
Reprinted with permission by the Reno/Sparks Association of REALTORS®.
Move to Reno
Nice 5 year chart of median home sales price.
Walter
The irony of this median price chart from the Reno/Sparks Association of Realtors is that almost every one of those realtors, and I mean every one of them, incessantly spewed out during the bubble years that “home values in Reno never go down”…..”you can’t ever lose money on a house in Reno”…..’Reno is unique, everybody wants to live here”…”You better buy now or get priced out forever”…..
john
Walter stop making bogus claims that all realtors are the same. Shame on you for being so childish!
Dan Statlander
Interesting post.
Dan Statlander
http://www.statelandbrown.com
(Real estate experts in Boca Raton Florida)
Charley
I tend to agree with Walter. I lived here all through the bubble years (2001-2006) and I don’t recall one single realtor saying houses are overvalued, there is too much funny money driving up the price of houses. I do believe they ALL said you really better buy now or get priced out forever, especially once the frenzy really got going, starting in 2004.
Zen
I also agree with Walter for the most part, but what else should we expect. Ultimately, realtors are salesmen. Can you imagine going onto a car lot and having a salesman tell you to come back next Wednesday near the end of the day, because their monthly quota is up and you should be able to save a few thousand bucks? If a realtor isn’t selling, they are not making a living. Why should anyone have expected them to tell you to come back in four or five years and see how the market is going then. I’m not convinced that they are any better at predicting what is going to happen down the road than anyone else, so many of them may have believed what they were saying. It is your job as a buyer to try to figure out if the purchase is a good deal, not theirs. You have to decide where the market is going and if it makes good financial sense to buy. At some point, if you buy, you are going to look pretty damn smart. You figure out when. I wish I had figured it out at Dow 6600, or 7700, or 8800.
Cheerios
“At some point, if you buy, you are going to look pretty damn smart”.
Or stupid.
Recall Nasdaq at 5,000.
Or Smithridge condos at $200,000.
frequent poster
Just bought a nice place in south Reno in March. I guess I’m not objective anymore. Add my place to the March stats when they are tallied up.
I notice that I don’t too much care about the immediate pulse of the market since closing. I’ve been a bit obsessed about it for the last few years. Now that I have a place, and one which I intend to own for the next 10+yrs, I could really care less about the state of the general market.
What I do know is that I could not have hoped to have to have built the place I bought for anything close to what I paid. I have great views of Mount Rose. I have lots of room to roam. I can reliably make the mortgage payment for the rest of my life, if necessary, but hopefully I outlive the mortgage.
Downsides? Property taxes are a bit out of wack, as they are based on the house’s bubble price. But, as I have two kids in school, consider it my contribution to Washoe County’s severely underfunded and poorly performing school system. Also, the heating bill will not be cheap next winter.
Upsides? No landlord to deal with. No HOA (I can paint it with those purple polka dots I’ve always dreamed of). One acre, so I don’t need to worry about hearing my neighbor yell at his wife (or vice versa).
So, I am not trying to be dismissive of the great pain that many are experiencing in northern Nevada right now. But, for me, it was a GREAT time to buy. No, I am not an agent.
Move to Reno
Smart move, frequent poster! This housing recession is going to be turned around one house at a time. Eventually, the market will get back in balance and then replacement value will come back as a valuation metric.
Sully
Actually what’s gonna turn this market around is investors. They have done so in the past and I see no reason they wont lead the way this time. This will not fare well for the McMansions, as they are going the way of the dinosaur. Even the home builders have said they were a mistake.
Mike did a post a short time ago about NRES and a private company. Currently, NRES is in the lead, however the company that is forming a real estate empire will be here long after Page is gone.
It wont be long before investors get tired of their .00025% interest from the bank and decide Bernankes’ extend and pretend game has no future. However, people gotta eat and live somewhere. As these investors begin buying up the low price houses for rentals, the availability of acceptable housing will start becoming less and less, thus driving the prices up. But this will only be happening in the normally affordable ranges – the high end will have problems for a long time to come.
Move to Reno
What do you consider as a McMansion and the “high end”?
Sully
Roughly 3500 – 5800 sq ft. High end definitely 900K+ with 450 – 900 close as few people can afford this range in Reno area.
Things Starting to Look Brighter in Northern Nevada
[…] Job fairs with jobs. Increases in sales tax revenues. A record number of home sales. […]
Raymond
he he he…… your’e killing me, Sully……. $950K is the high end?
950K is the freakin’ stratosphere in Reno now…….about 0.02% of the buying population can afford $950K…….
I do agree that all those homedebtors sitting in their 4500 sq. ft. Toll Bros. tribute to their ego from 2005 are in deep, deep doo doo………
Sully
Raymond, reread the two posts. I said the high end will have problems for a long time to come. The 450 – 900 range has regular sales, not many but then again I said few people can afford this range in Reno.