HispanicBusiness

Prices for foreclosed homes in Nevada jumped this year as sales volume plummeted, underscoring the state's high demand and slim inventory.

A total of 5,560 homes that were bank-owned or in some stage of foreclosure were sold in Nevada in the quarter ending Sept. 30. That's down 51 percent from the same period last year, according to a report out today from Irvine, Calif., research firm RealtyTrac. The majority of the sales, 4,650, were in the Las Vegas Valley.

The average sales price was $139,301, up 12.5 percent from a year earlier. However, buyers of distressed homes received an average discount of 17.8 percent compared to buyers of non-distressed homes.

Nevada's third-quarter sales accounted for almost 31 percent of all homes sold in the state during that period, giving Nevada the fourth-highest percentage in the country. Georgia ranked No. 1 at 38 percent, followed by California at 36 percent and Arizona at 34 percent.

Nationally, foreclosure sales accounted for 19.5 percent of all homes sold in the third quarter. The average sales price was $177,430, up roughly 3.5 percent from a year earlier. Buyers of distressed homes nationally saw a 32 percent discount.

In Las Vegas, the housing market is being driven largely by out-of-state cash investors, who are buying cheap homes in bulk to rent. At the same time, Nevada's robo-signing law, which took effect last October, has crimped inventory by forcing banks to provide more paperwork before they foreclose on a house.