Las Vegas May median home sales price breaks slump

SAN FRANCISCO, June 5 (Reuters) - The median price of a single-family home sold in the Las Vegas area in May posted its first monthly gain since mid-2007 and home sales in the hard- hit housing market notched their fifth consecutive monthly rise, a local real estate agents group said on Thursday.

Las Vegas' housing market has been awash in foreclosures amid the national downturn in demand for homes. But local home prices have collapsed to bargain levels, luring buyers.

May home-price and sales data suggest the Las Vegas region's housing market may be beginning to stabilize, said Patty Kelley, president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.

"These are all good signs for a local housing market that has been working its way through some unprecedented challenges over the past 16 months," Kelley said in a statement.

"We had been reporting a steady decline in the median home price for the past few months that has been due in large part to the high number of bank-owned properties selling in our area," Kelley said.

Kelley added that, "while a one-month increase in value does not constitute a trend, combined with the activity we're seeing in homes priced under $300,000, we are very optimistic."

The median price in May of a single-family home sold in the Las Vegas area increased 0.3 percent to $236,692 from April and declined 21.5 percent from a year earlier.

The May median sales price for condominiums and townhomes of $139,450 was down 10.0 percent from April and 26.6 percent form a year earlier.

A total of 2,026 single-family homes were sold last month in the Las Vegas market, up 12.9 percent from April and 29.2 percent from a year earlier.

Condominium and townhome sales totaled 266 in May, up 25.5 percent from April and down 28.7 percent from a year earlier. (Reporting by Jim Christie; Editing by Andre Grenon) (jim.christie@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: jim.christie.reuters.com@reuters.net (+1-415-677-2539))