December ended 2014 on a high note. The Reno and Sparks housing market saw more than 500 houses sold during December, and at a median sales price of $262,000. That median sales price represented a new high for the year. In fact, not only was median sales price up 0.8 percent over November’s median of $260,000, but it also represented a 13 percent year-over-year increase.
The last time Reno-Spark’s median sales price was at this level was in June 2008.
503 houses sold in December — representing a 7 percent increase over the 470 houses sold in November. Much of this increase can be attributed to home buyers wanting to purchase by the end of 2014 (possibly for for tax reasons — as we saw a similar jump in units sold in December 2013. December’s 503 houses sold was ten more than sold December 2013).
December’s median sold price per square foot (ppsf) jumped to $141.43/sq.ft. This was a 2.2 percent increase over November’s median sold ppsf of $138.36, and also another high for the year. Again, it was back in 2008 the last time we saw a median sold ppsf this high. Year-over-year December’s median sold ppsf was up 16.8 percent.
December’s median days on market (DOM) came in at 78 days — adding more than a week November’s median DOM of 70.
Available inventory continues its downward slide since peaking last year in August. Currently, only 806 houses are available for sale — the lowest number seen in 2014. With more than 500 sales for the month, the Reno-Sparks market currently has only a 1.6-month supply of inventory. That is seriously low. December’s 806 houses for sale represents a 10.8 percent drop from the 904 houses available for sale this time last month. December’s inventory is up 2.7 percent year-over-year.
The declining inventory is also impacting pending sales. December pending sales are down 19.2 percent from November and off 17.2 percent year-over-year. I expect the number of sales to fall sharply in January.
December sales by type break out as follows:
- REO sales: 5% – down from November’s 6%
- Short sales: 8% – up from November’s 6%
- Equity sales: 85% – unchanged from November’s 85%
December sales by price band break out as follows in the table below…
| sales price ($000’s) | units sold | cumulative % of sales |
| 0 – 99 | 7 | 1.4% |
| 100 – 199 | 121 | 25.4% |
| 200 – 299 | 189 | 63.0% |
| 300 – 399 | 104 | 83.7% |
| 400 – 499 | 31 | 89.9% |
| 500 – 599 | 15 | 92.8% |
| 600 – 699 | 10 | 94.8% |
| 700 – 799 | 10 | 96.8% |
| 800 – 899 | 5 | 97.8% |
| 900 – 999 | 3 | 98.4% |
| 1M+ | 8 | 100% |
| total | 503 |
Eight homes sold for more than $1 Million in December. That brings the total $1M+ sales for 2014 to 77. That total is a 14.9 percent increase over 2013’s 67 sales.
December’s median sold price for houses and condos combined was $248,500 — a 3.5 percent increase over November’s median sold price of $240,000 for combined sales of houses and condos.
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 2014 | 503 | $262,000 | $141.43 | 78 | 806 | 789 |
| Nov 2014 | 470 | $260,000 | $138.36 | 70 | 940 | 977 |
| Oct 2014 | 489 | $260,000 | $139.77 | 73 | 1,083 | 1,075 |
| Sep 2014 | 504 | $239,000 | $136.68 | 70 | 1,325 | 999 |
| Aug 2014 | 576 | $250,000 | $138.38 | 60 | 1,390 | 1,015 |
| Jul 2014 | 530 | $249,950 | $140.26 | 61 | 1,365 | 1,117 |
| Jun 2014 | 564 | $250,000 | $135.97 | 61 | 1,234 | 1,098 |
| May 2014 | 546 | $240,000 | $134.60 | 65 | 1,076 | 1,190 |
| Apr 2014 | 535 | $230,000 | $130.37 | 65 | 945 | 1,198 |
| Mar 2014 | 482 | $227,499 | $129.72 | 64 | 837 | 1,249 |
| Feb 2014 | 388 | $233,500 | $126.42 | 90 | 864 | 1,169 |
| Jan 2014 | 353 | $220,000 | $125.32 | 87 | 817 | 1,084 |
| Dec 2013 | 493 | $232,000 | $121.08 | 76 | 828 | 953 |
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 2015. 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
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