RSAR Monthly Market Report – November 2014

The Reno/Sparks Association of REALTORS^® has released its real estate market report for November 2014. Click on the report below to access the entire report — including new “Housing Affordability Index” charts on pages 27 and 28.

Summary from November’s report…

“For the second consecutive month, the median price remained at $260,000 and is up 16 percent from November 2013,” said Mark Ashworth, 2014 president of the Reno/Sparks Association of REALTORS. “We are also seeing a seasonal trend in low inventory in our region. With median price up and inventory low in the Reno, Sparks and Fernley markets, buyers will likely continue to face compromises in the home buying process.

• The September dip to $239,000 looks like it was just an anomaly.
• November unit sales at 464 are down 5% from October. The month-over-month drop in sales follows the typical seasonal trend. Year-to-date sales are down 148 unit sales or 2.6% compared to year-to-date 2013.
• For the fifth month, the sale to listing price ratio is down. The November sale to listing price ratio is down to 98.2% compared to November 2013 when it was at 99.2%. This is an indication that even though it’s a seller market, sellers are accepting less than listing price.
• With the return to the normal seasonal declines in new listing inventory, we expect new listings in December to be low. The past two Decembers have been below 300 new listings and December 2014 will likely be the same.
• Total pendings, an indicator of future closings, are lower than prior years. Keep in mind that prior years pendings were inflated by the large number of Short Sales that often never closed.
• Short sale pendings at 246 are significantly down from the 1,500 Short Sale pending numbers we saw several years ago.
• With the extension of the Mortgage Debt Relief Act still at a stalemate in Congress, short sale sellers remain plagued with the uncertainty of a tax on the forgiven indebtedness.

related post: RSAR Monthly Market Report – October 2014