Homes sales, prices take a dip in 2006

Average home prices in Churchill County are starting a downward trend while the numbers of homes sold this year is lower than those of last year.

Figures released by Bob Getto, local Realtor and trustee for the Northern Nevada region of the Multiple Listings Service, show the median sales price for homes have dropped from a high of $271,200 in January to $208,200 in November, a $63,000 decrease. Getto's figures from early December show the median price of a home is $241,000.

The MLS data only applies to stick-built homes located on 1.99 acres or less that are listed with local real estate agents. Getto said there are about 70 local Realtors.

The data shows median sales price of local homes has rocketed from $128,000 in the first quarter of 2004 to $238,000 in the second quarter of 2006. From January to November, houses stayed on the market an average of 119 days.

Getto said local home prices have "climbed quickly and steeply" for the past 16 to 24 months. While it's hard to predict future homes prices, "my gut feeling is they'll come down. It needs to come down," he said.

Kim McCreary, broker/owner of Fallon Realty, with developments in Fernley and Fallon, said he's had to raise prices on Phase 2 of Sky Ridge Estates west of Fallon because the cost of building permits and prices of goods and services has risen. He said it's tough for developers to build lower-priced starter homes because certain costs remain the same, no matter how big the house is.

"The basic ingredients for homes are dirt, electrical, water, sewer, curbs, gutters and sidewalks," McCreary said, adding the price of a building permit in Churchill County has risen from $1,200 per home to $6,000.

McCreary said he decided to target his Sky Ridge Estates more toward the equestrian lifestyle, with bigger lots and bigger homes.

"We found a niche in the market in our nicer production homes with real amenities," he said.

He theorized that national builders who came to Northern Nevada, builders who "tear down a mountain and build houses," drove up the price of dirt and overfilled the market with houses.

"The market is a little tougher, but it probably needed to happen," McCreary said.

Diane Lowery, Realtor at Berney Realty, said developments with standing inventory are doing better than those without readily available homes.

"We're not seeing people come in who want to wait five months for a home to be built," she said, adding that the situation was different two years ago when people were clamoring to buy homes

Lowery said it's a catch-22 situation for developers regarding having a standing inventory of homes.

Unless developers own the property free and clear, the construction loan is looming in the near future, but, "If you don't have it you can't sell it," she said.

Both Getto and McCreary said many buyers are retirees from out of state and military personnel stationed at NAS Fallon.

"There's very few new families," Getto said. "To meet the average sale price, you've gotta have a good job. Jobs are the key - we need good paying jobs, we need industry and commercial development."

Getto said the housing market is reverting back to a typical Fallon pattern - resale of homes within the community versus sales to out-of-state retirees.

McCreary, who sold 30 new homes in 2006, expects to match that next year.

"Nevada is the best piece of real estate - the air is clean, there's no crime and no traffic."

Christy Lattin can be contacted at clattin@lahontanvalleynews.com