December median sales price, units sold, DOM, and inventory

December’s median sales price for the Reno-Sparks housing market rocketed to $187,000 — finishing 2012 with a bang and continuing the upward trend in home prices we’ve seen all year. The median sales price for the Reno-Sparks housing market has not been at this level since early 2009. December’s median price is:

• Up a whopping 3.3 percent month-over-month, over November’s $181,000
• Up an impressive 20.6 percent year-over-year, over December 2011’s $155,000
• and Up an astounding 38.5 percent from the low set in January of this year at $135,0000

The median sold price per square foot also rocketed upward in December — rising 2.6 percent to $102.31/sq.ft.

The 485 houses sold in December represent a 6.9 percent fall from November’s units sold, and a 9.2 percent decrease from the 534 sold in December last year. Inventory level is so low right now that year-over-year units sold will be negative for the foreseeable future.

Median days on market (DOM) continues to rise as short sales (which typically require more time to close) comprise a larger portion of sales (see breakout below). December’s median DOM now sits at 108 days. [See related post: How long are short sales taking these days?]

Inventory continues to shrink. The metric “months supply of inventory” should be changed to “weeks supply of inventory”. With only 539 available houses the market currently has just over a four-week supply of inventory. [Of course, as has been discussed on the blog many times, this lack of inventory is not consistent across all price bands. See Where’s the existing inventory? …not below $400,000 for more details.]

December sales by type break out as follows:

• REO sales: 10% – up slightly from November’s 9%
• Short sales: 47% – UP from November’s 41%
• Equity sales: 42% – down from November’s 49%

December sales by price band break out as follows in the table below…

sales price ($000’s)	units sold	cumulative %
0 – 99	48	9.9%
100 – 199	217	54.6%
200 – 299	134	82.3%
300 – 399	37	89.9%
400 – 499	14	92.8%
500 – 599	16	96.1%
600 – 699	4	96.9%
700 – 799	2	97.3%
800 – 899	5	98.4%
900 – 999	2	98.8%
1M+	6	100%
total	485

For those readers who prefer the median sold price for houses and condos combined, December’s 551 sold houses, condos and town homes exhibited a combined median sold price of $170,000 – unchanged from November’s median sold price of $170,000 for 581 combined sales.

The table below contains the past 13 months of data…

Month Year	# Sold	Median Sold Price	Sold Price per Sq Ft	Median DOM	# of Actives	# of Pendings
Dec 2012	485	$187,000	$102.31	108	539	1,421
Nov 2012	521	$181,000	$99.68	105	640	1,646
Oct 2012	535	$180,000	$98.05	103	728	1,772
Sep 2012	472	$175,000	$98.42	92	836	1,811
Aug 2012	535	$176,000	$98.56	86	882	1,846
July 2012	514	$165,000	$94.59	88	832	1,873
Jun 2012	514	$170,000	$91.48	92	759	1,891
May 2012	524	$164,750	$90.56	99	783	1,873
Apr 2012	526	$151,100	$87.04	95	785	1,885
Mar 2012	540	$149,900	$84.89	107	809	1,889
Feb 2012	465	$145,500	$82.12	100	980	1,788
Jan 2012	449	$135,000	$81.07	123	1,170	1,643
Dec 2011	534	$155,000	$85.86	123	1,403	1,481

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 – January 2013. Note: This information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.

Click here for historical data back to 1998.

Related post: November median sales price, units sold, DOM, and inventory