A bar graph from my monthly Realtor Association newsletter inspired this random neighborhood check. It appeared that 2006 prices seemed to be trending down into the 2004 range, so I pulled a few random neighborhoods to see how the different areas were performing. The results were generally consistent, except that Old Southwest’s median seems to have dropped a little lower, while South Suburban has held its value better than the rest.
| Nov-03 | Nov-04 | Nov-05 | Nov-06 | |
| Cold Springs | $149,000 | $229,000 | $249,000 | $228,500 |
| New Northwest | $241,750 | $329,950 | $382,500 | $349,000 |
| Old Southwest | $255,000 | $307,000 | $352,000 | $282,590 |
| South Meadows | $260,000 | $355,000 | $417,200 | $365,375 |
| S Spanish Springs | $294,500 | $386,950 | $425,000 | $396,900 |
| South Suburban | $596,250 | $675,000 | $880,000 | $760,000 |
While these numbers are interesting, they don’t tell the whole story. Yes, they show that prices have come down by various percentages depending on the neighborhood, but they say nothing about the standing inventory of overpriced resale homes still waiting for buyers. Last I checked only 11% of resale homes available for sale were actually under contract in the Reno Sparks market. more
And for the downtown condo crowd, here are your median trends:
| Nov-03 | Nov-04 | Nov-05 | Nov-06 | |
| NW/SW Condos | $123,750 | $185,000 | $239,950 | $246,400 |
What’s interesting is that the condo medians are still up, perhaps because they are what’s affordable? Keep in mind that these don’t include the pricey Palladio and Montage units solds, or any of the other unlisted developer conversions downtown.
But something else is up downtown…
The Palladio developers cancelled their project across the river, and now I’m hearing rumors that the massive Waterfront project is now on ice? Very interesting… though, despite my enthusiasm for projects enhancing downtown redevelopment, I actually think it would be a good idea for some of these new developers to postpone their plans. This will limit the amount of inventory downtown, keeping values higher than they would be with a glut of new units.
The last thing we need is an oversupply of pricey downtown housing like we see in the suburbs, so if these developers are indeed fleeing the scene, at least for the moment, in the long run, it’s better for downtown development overall. Downtown makeovers take decades, and we need to pace ourselves to maintain a healthy housing balance. more
