As predicted dwindling affordable inventory is causing units sold to decrease and the median sales price to increase.
April’s median sold price increased to $152,500 – a 1.7 percent over March’s median of $149,900. Year-over-year, April’s median sold price is down 2.3 percent.
April’s median sold price per square foot (ppsf) also increased – climbing to $86.96, or a 2.4 percent over March’s number of $84.92/sf. Sold ppsf is down 3.1 percent year-over-year.
The number of available listings for sale continues to plummet – coming in at a record low 785 listings. Given the current rate of sales – 517 units sold for the month of April – the Reno-Sparks market has only 1.5 months supply of inventory.
April sales by type break out as follows:
- REO sales: 26% – down from April’s 32%
- Short sales: 32% – down from April’s 34%
- Equity sales: 40% – up from April’s 33%
April sales by price band break out as follows in the table below. 18% of the houses sold in April sold for less than $100,000; 68% sold for less than $200,000; 86% sold for less than $300,000; and 93% sold for less than $400,000. We are beginning to see increased sales in the higher price bands.
| sales price ($000’s) | units sold |
| 0 – 99 | 94 |
| 100 – 199 | 259 |
| 200 – 299 | 94 |
| 300 – 399 | 33 |
| 400 – 499 | 20 |
| 500 – 599 | 12 |
| 600 – 699 | 1 |
| 700 – 799 | 2 |
| 800 – 899 | 1 |
| 900 – 999 | 1 |
| 1M+ | 0 |
| total | 517 |
For those readers who prefer the median sold price for houses and condos combined,
April’s 585 sold houses, condos and town homes exhibited a combined median sold price of $145,000 – up 3.6 percent from March’s combined median of $140,000 for 626 combined sales.
The last 13 months of data:
| Month Year | # Sold | Sold Price | Sold Price per Sq Ft | Avg/Med DOM | # of Actives | # of Pendings |
| Apr 2012 | 517 | $152,500 | $86.96 | 144 / 95 | 785 | 1,885 |
| Mar 2012 | 537 | $149,900 | $84.92 | 145 / 107 | 809 | 1,889 |
| Feb 2012 | 465 | $145,000 | $82.12 | 131 / 99 | 980 | 1,788 |
| Jan 2012 | 448 | $135,000 | $81.16 | 146 / 123 | 1,170 | 1,643 |
| Dec 2011 | 534 | $155,000 | $85.86 | 148 / 123 | 1,403 | 1,481 |
| Nov 2011 | 497 | $149,012 | $85.02 | 146 / 115 | 1,545 | 1,635 |
| Oct 2011 | 498 | $147,950 | $84.22 | 145 / 106 | 1,682 | 1,646 |
| Sep 2011 | 575 | $149,000 | $83.73 | 133 / 106 | 2,044 | 1,967 |
| Aug 2011 | 555 | $154,000 | $91.36 | 125 / 98 | 1,947 | 1,694 |
| July 2011 | 512 | $149,950 | $87.65 | 128 / 96 | 2,028 | 1,667 |
| June 2011 | 538 | $154,000 | $90.12 | 123 / 89 | 1,990 | 1,689 |
| May 2011 | 510 | $150,000 | $88.66 | 133 / 104 | 1,968 | 1,682 |
| Apr 2011 | 436 | $156,125 | $89.78 | 137 / 104 | 1,914 | 1,593 |
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 – May 2012. Note: This information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.
Click here for historical data.
Related post: March median sold price, units, DOM, $/sq.ft.
holy moly
Thanks for the numbers once again guy! A median of $160k+ certainly looks possible by years end.
Twister
After reading the posts from the last few days, I was convinced we had no equity around here anymore. Then I see this report where 40% of a healthy 517 sales last month were equity sales. So it seems the reports of their demise have been greatly exaggerated.
Matthew
Twister, distressed sales are effectively excluded from the market.
When you prevent distressed inventory from being sold you will, inevitably, have a higher percentage of equity sales.
Twister
Its not 40% of 200 or 300 sales but 517 sales. April 2011 report showed equity sales at 31% of 421 sales. This shows not only an increase in % but a significant increase in the number of equity sales YOY.
Matthew
Again, because distressed sales are effectively excluded from the market you expect an increase in equity sales.
Furthermore, because homes which *already foreclosed* can now be sold as equity you would certainly expect an equity sale increase over last year.
tyler durden
from a bullish perspective this is disappointing
Matthew
Tyler, that depends on your time horizon. I’m absolutely bullish on real estate right now for the ten-year horizon.
There are even deals to be had for flips if you can do the renovations quickly and correctly.
None of these facts point to a healthy market though. When the primary market forces are so heavily manipulated that market realities are effectively excluded and credit for very specific buyers is heavily subsidized as another commenter put it in a previous post: we’ve hardly got a market at all.
Twister
Good to see you agree with my original post, Matthew that equity sales are alive and well!
tyler durden
matthew,
with the confluence of events and low inventory i thought this month’s median was a ‘miss’
Jim
Guy, what is your estimate on the current number of homes that have not been foreclosed upon to-date due to AB 284?
HAve you heard anything about banks beginning to offering their delinquent homeowners a rental situation vs. foreclosing?
Jim
not sure how well that “rental program” will work….. Why rent when I can live rent free
Geiss
Hot damn! The median is now back to what it was in November of 1998!
What greater proof can there be that there is no better “long term” investment than houses in Reno, Nevada.
Bobby
Geiss
Keep on renting, us landlords send our deepest thank you!
Boobie
Great observation Geiss.
Guy Johnson
Jim, your question about the number of homes yet to be foreclosed on is difficult to answer; but CoreLogic has some data you might find useful. Check out their reports here.
Coleman
Jim,
In the months leading up to the effective date of AB 284, which was October 1, 2011, there were about 500 NODs a month being recorded. So the impact has been huge, and unless one wants to engage in massive denial and pretend that the housing market instantly cured itself at midnight on 10/01/11, about 3,500 NODs that would normally have been recorded are now on the sidelines backlogging, and thousands of people are living mortgage free. Recovering market? Puh-lease.
E.Edward
Bobby,
and all the renters would like give a big thanks to the landlords for taking that year-over-year equity loss while providing a mobile living standard where the renter can simply up and move from a dying town such as Reno to take work elsewhere on a drop of a hat!………. lol
Postage
I have a work colleague who bought a house in Reno in 2004 for $450K in cash. He now is in escrow to sell the house for $230K. This is the kind of sale that Guy likes to call an “equity sale” because there is no outstanding mortgage. This guy has lost his ass on this house, and if you tell him he has “equity” in the house he will become suspect of your intellectual capacity. And your integrity.
The realtors yuck up this kind of sale as an “equity sale” and a sign of an improving market. Now I understand that the definition of equity is the difference between the value of a house and the amount of existing encumbrances. But you tell this guy he has an “equity sale” and he will laugh in your face.
I wonder how many other of all these “equity sales” are situations where the seller has lost his ass on the house?
bobby
Edward,
It’s a funny thing. Recent comps and a cma BOTH price my rental property HIGHER than I paid. Never mind the fact that the rent just keeps on rolling in. Again, thank you!
Sully
Postage, I agree the term equity sales is a misnomer. Essentially what we have here are distressed and non-distressed sales, the exceptions being NRES and others that are successfully flipping distressed sales and calling them equity sales.
Twister
Lots of different situations playing out on an individual level with equity sales. Some are sad but others who have been buying low are now set up to do quite well. Also those who want to move up like in the KTVN story a few days back sound pretty happy about their situation. Its not all bad out there.
Theres no dispute that a very large number of NODs will be waiting to be sent out after AB284. Where the uncertainty lies is what will happen to all those foreclosures? Will the banks flood the market or will they process them at a slower pace for various other reasons. Its also possible that most of them will never see the light of day but be sold in bulk as ready-made rentals to large institutional investors. In the meantime and for many many more months to come the market will be tight and the median will continue to trend higher. For those waiting for a return to the days of swimming in inventory may be better off sitting in a patch waiting for the Great Pumpkin!
Rubiconer
Very good point Postage. Even to call them “distressed” and “non-distressed” does not accurately reflect the reality in many situations. A guy bought a house in 2005 for $450K cash and is now selling it for $230K. It is not classified as “distressed” because it is not an REO or a short sale (it cannot be a short sale where there is no lender who has to agree to take less than payment in full). The guy is losing $220,000 on his “equity sale”. But the realtor spinjive is that this non-distressed “equity sale” signals an improving market.
I appreciate this blog and Guy as well. But Guy is a realtor and he will always put forth the realtor shuck and jive.
Raymond
Hey guys, what realtor “shuck and jive”?
So Postage’s friend’s house has lost 50% of its value since he bought it. So?
It will come back. Just ask Twister. All it has to do is increase in value 100% from what he can sell it for today. By 2032, it will likely be back to what he paid for it in 2005.
What shuck and jive?
E.Edward
Bobby….. I hear-ya,
Its nervous times for the Realtor, the RE-investor, the underwater landlord/home owner…..and I agree there’s nothing more painful then watching ones asset lose value, especially in this dying depressed area.
And who-knows maybe its possible yours and twisters campaigning here on this blog will somehow magically change the outcome? However back in the real word, coupled with forced up interest rates and the massive tidal wave of inventory AB284 is going to generate, one’s going to be-in for whole lot more equity loss!
Best of luck..E.
confused
So my rental property was “zestimated” at 232k 3 months ago its now at 198k…shouldn’t it be moving in other direction or at least standing still if all you say is true Guy?
Twister
Buying a house in 2005 and selling in 2012 was like buying the Nasdaq in 2000 and selling in 2003. Hopefully lesson learned on how to spot a bubble!
Matthew
Twister… lesson *not* learned.
The easy-money policies and subsidized private credit which caused the housing bubble are still rampant. There is effectively no private lending market… There is no market at all for non-government loans.
I signed on a property this week and was talking with a mortgage broker. Whether we took the 10,15,30 fixed, put down 3%, 5%, 20% or 50%, wanted a fixed, arm or balloon… the rates were basically the same – All Uncle Sam. The state of our mortgage credit banking industry is absolutely pathetic.
Twister
Huh…I was talking about the guy who picked a bad time to buy a house! I dont know where you got Uncle Sam from. By the way if we are still in a bubble like you say then why are you buying?
bobby
Edward,
I appreciate the “best of luck”. personally I’m not that concerned about my rental as it’s been taking care of itself quite nicely. I’m more focused on other things like my importing business.
Eventually this RE mess will clear up. It may take another 3-5 years before we truly see a “normal” market again. Of course I plan on holding for AT LEAST 10-15 years. Hence why it’s really the least of my worries right now.
Twister
Guy, do you have the April numbers for South Meadows?
Guy Johnson
Twister,
South Meadows April numbers:
Twister
Ok, thanks Guy!
James
guy,
Do you have numbers for the downtown core? I realize it’s a pretty small sample size so perhaps old SW as well?
Guy Johnson
James,
Both areas you mention exhibit small sample sizes. When reporting on site/stickbuilt properties only (condos excluded), I see only ten sales in the Old Southwest (MLS area #160) and no sales in the Downtown Core (MLS area #116) for the month of April. If I include condos in the Downtown Core sales search, I see eleven sales for the month of April.
Given the above…
Old SW numbers for April:
Downtown Core condo sales for April:
james
Thank you guy!
I truly appreciate all the time and effort you put into giving us this valuable blog! It’s unfortunate that some do not realize you do this as NOT only a marketing tool but as a service to uninformed buyers/sellers/doom & gloomers/ RE agent haters 😉
THANK YOU!
May median sold price, units, DOM, $/sq.ft. | RRB Home
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