By Hubble Smith-Review Journal- While sales of both new and existing homes in Las Vegas trail last year's numbers, they're picking up momentum, a local housing analyst said Tuesday.

New-home sales increased for the third straight month to 1,146 in March, though the first-quarter total of 2,296 is down 44.1 percent from the same period a year ago, Dennis Smith of Home Builders Research reported.

The total includes 188 high-rise condo units, led by 102 closings at Palms Place at an average price of $668,130.

Median price for all types of new homes sold in March was $278,630, a 9 percent decline from a year ago.

The resale segment continues to improve with 1,899 recorded closings, the fourth straight monthly increase. For the first three months of the year, existing home sales are off 34.4 percent at 4,916.

Nationally, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday that sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums dropped by 2 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.93 million units.

The median price of a home sold last month in the U.S. was $200,700, a decline of 7.7 percent from a year ago and the seventh consecutive year-over-year price drop. It was also the second biggest decline following a record 8.4 percent drop in February. These records go back to 1999.

"Like I've been saying, it looks like we're close to the bottom," Smith said. "I'm talking about sales. The price is not a reflection of whether the market is turning around. It's a lagging indicator. You have to have better demand."

Resale prices are being dragged down by foreclosures and short sales, he said. The $230,000 median in March is down 19.3 percent from a year ago.

"Even if more than half of the resale total are foreclosures or short sales, so what? The most important thing is to get rid of the excess inventory and that is what's happening, although the lenders could step things up a little bit," Smith said.

"We know of instances where short sales are taking months to get responses from the selling banks. Are they holding offers while waiting for higher offers? Are they understaffed? Whatever the reason, they need to speed up the process."

David Vaughn of Las Vegas said he made an offer for the full amount of $229,900 on a foreclosure home advertised in the Review-Journal by Countrywide Home Mortgage. That was 12 weeks ago.

"I called Countrywide," he said. "All the financing is in place. I can't get them to even talk to me."

"All Systems GO" seems to be the theme for the Las Vegas Real Estate Market. We are experiencing an increase in home sales and a decline in home prices. Inventory is a key player in the home price decline, along with the record number of short sales and bank owned properties.

The hot topic of previous blogs has been the signs of market turn-around Las Vegas has been exhibiting. We have touched the multiple offer issues we are seeing in foreclosure properties and in the short sale market. Delays in the foreclosure and short sale markets have been attributed to the overwhelming amount of defaulting homeowners Clark County has seen over the last 12-18 months. Banks are not able to keep pace with the demand of many Buyers whom are just waiting for an answer so they can cash in on the hot foreclosure market.