Distress sales, foreclosures and serious delinquencies are falling as home values and home construction is increasing, according to UNLV Lied Institute’s Third Quarter Report on Nevada’s Housing Market.

Statewide, the portion of homes that are underwater decreased dramatically, while single-family sales and prices are up.

The share of homes with a mortgage underwater is 38.32 percent, which is 19.42 percentage points lower than last year. Increases in home prices have helped restore home values in Nevada. Moreover, the number of REO sales and short sales have fallen, and they represent 29.14 percent of all single‐family home sales as of August 2013. Traditional homes sales have become dominant in the resale housing market.

New-home construction has increased as well, though permits have outpaced sales.

Residential construction is picking up in Nevada, but new single‐family home sales have not been reflective of the increasing number of housing permits. Builders filed a total of 1,315 permits in August. This is 614 more permits than last year, and the aggregate trends show that the level of building activity in the past few months is much higher than the prior four years.

In Southern Nevada the foreclosure inventory is at its lowest level since July 2008. Single-family starts in August 2013 were up by nearly 13% from the year prior.

Download a copy of the report