Las Vegas, Phoenix Home Sales at 5/6 Year Highs

1. "Las Vegas region home sales were at a five-year high in May, rising modestly from both April and a year earlier as sales of distressed properties continued to account for nearly 70% of the resale market. Price measures moved little month-to-month but the declines from a year earlier steepened amid higher levels this year of foreclosure resales and sub-$100,000 transactions.  In May, 4,570 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the Las Vegas metro area – the highest sales tally for a May since 2006. May sales rose 1.8% from April and 1.7% from May 2010." 

2. "Phoenix-area home were at a six-year high in May, amid near-record levels of investor purchases. The region’s median price remained at essentially the same level – $120,000 – it’s been at the past six months as distressed property sales continued to account for around 2/3 of the resale market. The median price dropped sharply from a year earlier, however, as the number of homes selling below $100,000 shot up nearly 41% year-to-year. 

A total of 9,837 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow during May in the Phoenix metro area. That was up 0.8% from the month before and up 4.9% from a year earlier.  May’s total sales were the highest since 2007, when 10,112 homes sold, and were 8.6% short of the average number of May sales since 1994. However, the number of existing single-family detached houses that sold in May was the highest for that month since 2005, while resales of condos were the highest for a May since 2006."

Update: Real estate bidding wars are back in parts of DC area.