Short sales accounted for 39% of November sales.  The median sales price for short sales was $159,900 and the average days on market was 180. 

Bank owned proeprties accounted for 35.1% of November sales.  The median sales price for bank owned sales was $128,000 and they averaged 95 days on market. 

Traditional (equity position) sales accounted for 25.7% of November sales.  The median for these sales was $192,000 and they averaged 82 days on the market. 

Buyers used FHA financing for 42.9% of these purchases.  Conventional financing accounted for 28.9%, 19.5% were purchased with cash and 7.8% using VA financing.

Bank owned or REO sales accounted for 32% of the sales in October.  The median was signifcantly lower at $1390,950.  These properties saw the fewest days on the market with an average of 96 days.  These listing received on average 99% of asking price.  The median sales price wasn’t helped much which only 3 homes sold over the $500,000 mark and almost 80% of the sales at the $200,000 or below price point.

Short sales accounted for 27.9% of the sales in October.  They brought in a higher median sales price than the REO properties at $161,000.  They unfortunately average the longest market times of 199 days.  Short sale listings received an average of 99.1% of their asking price.  The short sale median sales price was definitely bolstered by a $1,200,000 sale.  There were 4 sales over the $500,000 mark.  70% of the short sales were under the $200,000 price point.

What does all this mean???  Sellers with equity can successfully sell their homes in a distressed market given that they have realistic expectations of the price.     Bank owned/REO sales net the banks less than short sales, a continued argument that banks seem to be getting finally.  And lastly, short sales aren’t just for homes in the lower price points.  You can do a short sale on a $1 million home.  You just have to prove to the bank that you have a hardship and that it’s in their best interest to not take the property back onto their books.  It can be done.

The total number of sales for the Sparks area  (MLS area 108) dropped slightly from 2009 to 2010, down about 6.1%.  In addition, the median price also fell from $170,000 in 3rd Q 2009 to $160,700 in 3rd Q 2010, a drop of 5.5%. 

There are currently (as of 10-22-2010) 568 active listings available to buyers in the Sparks area market.  Of these 48.6% are short sales, 34.4% are traditional sales and 16.9% are bank owned.  Key here for buyers is to make sure you have a buyer’s agent working for you that knows the ins and outs of short sales – doing your homework before making an offer on a short sale is key.

Bank owned properties continued to earn the highest list to sale price ratio.  In 3rd Q 2010 bank owned lisitngs got an average of 99.6% of the asking price, short sales 98.9% and traditional sales 97.4%.  Fewer foreclosed properties at low prices, continued mis-understanding of short sales and over-priced traditional listings drive these numbers.

As expected short sales have the highest average number of days on market.  For 3rd Q 2010 short sales averaged 184 days on market, bank owned 79 and traditional sales 77.   As a note the average number of days to close a short sale is relatively the same between 2009 and 2010.  We keep being told by the banks that they are improving their processes.  Hopefully this will reflect soon in our average days to close a short sale.

According to a Yahoo.com report on 10-20-2010 more than 55% of the active mortgages in the Reno-Sparks area are upside down.  I think we will continue to see more and more short sales as homeowners become more educated about short sales as an option to foreclosure.  The key is making sure that you select an agent that is highly skilled in the short sale areana and get legal and tax advice as well.

Of the homes currently on the market, there are 47 not located in Del Webb, The Vue and The Village.

Of the 47 homes, only 30 are available without an offer.

• 5 between $200k and $300k
• 10 between $300k and $400k
• 5 between $400k and $500k
• 6 between $500k and $600k
• 3 between $600k and $700k
• 0 between $700k and $800k
• 0 between $900k and $1million
• 1 over $1million

Of the 17 homes in escrow, 15 are subject to a short sale or bank owned and 2 are regular sales.

85 homes have closed in Somersett since January 1, 2010. 17 were bank owned, 27 were short sales and 41 were regular sales.

In looking at the Tahoe Donner subdivision in Truckee, which comprises the largest percentage of the sales in the overall area, the statistics are similar.  In 2002, there were 302 single family homes sold, with a median price of $495,000.  The highest median market value was reached in 2005, at $765,000.  At the end of 2009, the median price is at $568,500, again, a 25% drop since the high in 2005, yet still a 29% increase from where we were in 2002.  And similar to the picture for the entire area, the number of homes sold in 2009 in Tahoe Donner (225) was up 16.5% from 2008.

During the past year, we’ve seen our share of distressed properties come on the market, although not near as many as many areas of our state and country.  Of the 787 single family homes that sold in 2009, 127 (16%) were foreclosures and 85 (11%) were “short sales”.  We currently have only 23 foreclosure properties active on the market (3% of the total inventory available), and 102 “short sales”, comprising 14%.

As we look towards this new decade, we’re excited about the opportunities in our industry that will hopefully allow many more buyers to realize their dreams of home ownership, be it here in our mountain paradise, or wherever their dreams may take them.

If I pull statistics on all of Reno and Sparks December 06 to December 08

• There is a 31% decrease in the median price
• There is a 3% decrease in the overall number of properties on the market
• There is a 46% increase in the number of properties under contract
• There is a 15% decrease in the number of properties sold
• There is a 32% decrease in the sales rate (months of inventory)

In the old southwest, southwest and Caughlin areas of Reno

• Median prices were flat
• The number of listings for sale has dropped 12%
• The number of properties under contract has dropped 16%
• The number of properties sold has dropped 21%
• The number of months of inventory has increased by 8%

In the southwest suburban areas of Reno

• Prices have dropped by 63%
• The number of properties on the market has dropped by 2%
• The number of properties under contract have decreased by 38%
• The number of properties sold has decreased by 56%
• The sales rate (months of inventory) has increased by a whopping 264%

Spanish Springs area of Sparks

• Median price has decreased by 32%
• the number of properties for sale has decreased by 5%
• The under of properties under contract has increased by 150%
• The number of properties that has sold has increased by 79%
• The months of inventory has dropped by 62%

In the South Meadows area of Reno

• The median price has dropped by 34.4%
• The number of properties for sale has dropped by 11%
• The number of properties under contract has increased by 16%
• The number of properties that has sold had decreased by 29%
• The number of months of inventory as dropped by 16%

In Incline Village (using the entire MLS numbers)

• The median price has dropped by 67%
• The number of properties for sale has increased by 9%
• The nunder of properties under contract has decreased by 10%
• The number of properties that has sold has decreased by 33%
• The sales rate (monthly inventory) has increased by 17%

On the Nevada southeast side of Lake Tahoe

• The median price has decreased by 3%
• The number of properties for sale has increased by 21%
• The number of properties under contract has increased by 17%
• The number of properties sold has decreased by 50%
• The number of months of inventory has increased by 4%

South Lake Tahoe California

• The median price has decreased by 20%
• The number of properties for sale is flat (no change)
• The number of properties under contract has decreased by 11%
• The number of properties that has sold has decreased by 34%
• The months of inventory has increased by 10%

This is just a sampling of the multiple listing service statistics from each market but there are other factors that play into determining where opportunity lies.  One example I can think of are the areas where there is a large amount of new construction (think Northstar at Truckee, Spanish Springs, and Damonte Ranch to name a few).  I do firmly believe dealing with a professional Realtor will save you money in even the short run. 

Hope we hear from you and unti then I hope your 2009 is healthy and properous!

I quickly responded to him with the reality that there were actually only 125 homes currently listed in Tahoe Donner (of nearly 5500 in the subdivision) and there were 25 homes currently in escrow which would represent just a 5 month inventory of homes currently on the market.  As well, I mentioned that it is late in the winter, which can be one of the slowest times of the year in our market.

Once my client realized these “actual” statistics, he felt much better about his investment and was glad he had contacted me rather than believing his friend or watching the local or national news headlines.

This story illustrates that many people only take the time to read a couple of articles in the newspaper (or online), and watch the nightly news.  We should never lose sight of the fact that the media’s job is to sell newspapers and magazines and to get great ratings for their TV shows.  Their job is to grab our attention with sensationalized headlines.

Real estate is very localized and calling a real estate professional in your particular area of interest is the only way you will get an accurate portrayal of what is really going on.