The Center for Regional Studies has just completed the July 2010 home sales and foreclosure statistics for Washoe County, and the news isn’t great. Given that the rest of the economy is still a mess, this shouldn’t come as a surprise…but if there’s anyone out there who still thinks that housing is going to lead us out of this mess, perhaps they should take a closer look at the numbers. In July, the sales and foreclosure numbers were almost uniformly bad — fewer sales of new and existing homes, falling prices, more foreclosures, more Notices of Default (NODs) filed…you get the picture.
Looking at the cumulative numbers for the first seven months of the year relative to last year, the news was a little more encouraging: Sales of existing single family homes for the first seven months of the year were up 18% from last year, and sales of existing condos were up 75%. There ARE sales occurring, although prices have yet to bottom out in this market and the inventory of distressed (bank owned or short sale homes) is still at record levels for the area. The median sales price of existing single family homes was down 6% through July, and down 21% for condo sales through July relative to last year.
Unemployment is still a huge drain on the economy — with Washoe County’s unemployment rate hovering around 14% (which is one of the highest rates in the nation), it’s not realistic to hope for a miraculous surge in the area’s housing market. Once we finally start to see some employment stability in the region, the housing market will finally have a chance to claw its way back onto more solid ground.
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