Southern Nevada real estate market warming up

March was a promising month for Las Vegas residential real estate. Spring is here and people are finally starting to believe that now is probably as good a time to buy a home as any. Mortgage rates continue to be under 6%, meaning that end is still favorable, and prices have decreased quite a bit, so there are excellent deals out in the field right now that may not last all that long.

GLVAR, or Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, disclosed that 1,478 single-family homes closed escrow in March which is a 34.6% jump from February, representing the third monthly hike in a row. That is very encouraging. This is one of the three important components that determine the market's health and it's moving steadily in the right direction.

The noteworthy item here is that 52% of the sales were foreclosures and short sales, or properties that are going for less than the underlying mortgage. It's more and more common now that these listings are getting multiple offers and the surprising volume is in fact putting a bit of a strain on short-staffed mortgage lenders and title firms. Isn't it nice to be busy again.

The second component in the big scheme of things is the single-family house inventory level and that actually inched up again, to 22,763. It's a 1,2% increase from February. Not much, but still up. When it begins heading down it signals improving strength for the market.

The third factor is the price. It gave ground in March, a negative sign. Just a bit, though. The median price slipped 1.4% to $243,169, but is off a somber 20.3% from a year ago.

All in all, one component is solidly positive and the other two are getting closer to being there, so the market is working hard to right itself. Cautious optimism is taking over.