RRB reports that the median price for a single family, stick build single family house in Washoe County (NNRMLS area 100) was $155,000 in April. But what does the median priced home really look like? There were actually 5 sales at $155,000 in April:
1. 480 S. Sand Crane
3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1656 SF or $91 per square foot. This was originally purchased new for $309,000 in December 2005, and was an REO.
2. 2995 Bryan
3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1528 SF, $101 psf. Originally purchased new for $174,500 in april 2002. This was a short sale.
3. 2722 Harding – 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, built in 1973, 1320 SF, $113 psf. This house sold for $362,000 in September 2005, and was bought at a Trustee’s Sale in December 2010 by Wood is Good for $105K. Wood’s niche is to buy houses needing more serious work than NRES.
4. 360 Tina – 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, built in 1996, 1944 SF, $80 psf. This was an REO.
5. 1942 Canyon Ridge – 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, built in 1994, 1386 SF, $111 psf. This house sold for $285K in May 2005, and was bought at a Trustee’s sale by NRES for $120K.
The average of these median priced homes was 1575 SF selling for $99 psf. It got me wondering what the median priced house looked like during the peak, so I checked out the houses that sold around the April 2005 median of $326,750 (I couldn’t find the exact median priced home due to differences in the ways the MLS and Assessor categorize properties. For instance, an attached unit in Somersett is a single family home per the MLS and a Townhouse End Unit to the Assessor).
1. 1550 Polo Park –
3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1362 SF, $240 psf, originally purchased for $172K in November 2002. this house subsequently sold as a short sal for $188,000 in April 2009.
2. 7145 Banbury
3 bedrooms, 2 baths, looks like a twin of Polo Park, 1362 SF, $241 psf, originally $157K in May 2000. Current debt is $270K.
3. 7535 Berryhill – 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, built in 1982, 2110 SF, $155 psf. NODs in 2007 and 2009, now with a loan modification.
4. 4036 Weeping Willow – 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, originally $145K in December 1997, 1918 SF, $171 psf, still with the original owner.
5. 3525 Heron’s Landing – 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 1588 SF, $205 psf. This house was purchased for $209K at a Trustee’s Sale in October 2008.
The average April 2005 median priced homes were 1668 SF, $205 psf.
I sort of believed that the median priced home in both time frames would be a junker in a dicey neighborhood when I started my research. While certainly not ArrowCreek, they are all decent houses in decent neighborhoods, and pretty much the same neighborhoods in 2005 and 2011. Nothing has really changed!
PS:
– About 10% of the current sales reported on the MLS are Trustee’s Sales flips that show up in the data as "equity sales". Just factor that in when the percent of distressed property sales figures are quoted.
– What’s up with 5230 Cedarwood? Any Callahan Ranch folks have the back story on the playhouse on the hill?
Tom Joad
The peak of the bubble was not April ’05 at $326K. It was January ’06 at $365K.
A median priced house today costs 42% of what it cost at the bubble’s height.
We may be testing yet a new low for the median this month. As of a couple days ago, the median sold to month date was below $155K.
Cal
Very interesting, and instructive, to observe that out of these 10 radomnly selected houses, the great majority of them were (are) REOs and short sales. A very small sample, yes, but an insightful glimpse of just how battered this housing market is.
Besides Las Vegas, has there been a worse housing market in America?
billddrummer
@Cal,
Nope.
Sully
Cal, if you want to go back to 80’s when East Texas prices dropped 50% in 3 months because all the oil wells dried up – then you can find a worse market.
BanteringBear
Given the dreadful economy in the Reno area, I’d say that $155k for the Bryan house is quite generous. It’s not hard to imagine houses like that selling in the neighborhood of $100k . Warehouse and service jobs just don’t support much more.
Martin
Your comment is well taken, Mike. These are decent houses in decent neighborhoods. And how many thousands of other houses just like these are in some state of foreclosure right now? How many of the 12,000 or so MIA NODs are the banks going to patiently roll out over the next few years?
The banks control this market now. They have effective control over the inventory, either directly through REOs or indirectly through their ability to approve or deny short sales, and thus the banks control the price. The so-called “equity seller” does not exert any influence in this market.