Las Vegas house sales fall as prices set another record high

Las Vegas home prices rose to another all-time high last month as sales tapered off.

The median sales price of previously owned single-family houses — the bulk of the market — was a record $410,000 in October, up 0.9 percent from the previous all-time high, set in September, and 20.5 percent from October of last year, according to a new report from trade association Las Vegas Realtors.

Buyers scooped up 3,077 houses last month, down 4.1 percent from September and 4.6 percent from October 2020.

Southern Nevada’s inventory of available houses also shrank, as 3,287 single-family homes were on the market without offers at the end of October, down 5.1 percent from September and 27 percent year over year, the association reported.

Meanwhile, the median sales price of condos and townhomes also set a record high last month at $236,000, up 2.6 percent from September and 26.5 percent from a year ago, according to LVR.

The association reports data from its resale-heavy listing service.

Despite big job losses sparked by the coronavirus pandemic, Southern Nevada’s housing market has accelerated this year with rapid sales and record prices, thanks largely to rock-bottom mortgage rates that have let buyers stretch their budgets.

Las Vegas has also seen a higher-than-usual tally of out-of-state buyers, including from more expensive markets, as people sought more space amid widespread work-from-home arrangements during the pandemic, real estate pros say.

House hunters have showered properties with offers and routinely paid over the asking price this year, while builders have put buyers on waiting lists, regularly raised prices and in some cases drawn names to determine who gets to purchase a place.

All told, it became more expensive to buy a home over the past year, tougher to land a place and, some have said, increasingly unaffordable.

Houses are still selling fast during what’s normally a slower period for the market, though properties aren’t trading as quickly as they did earlier this year.

Among the single-family homes that traded hands last month, 79.9 percent had been on the market for 30 days or less, down from 89.1 percent of house sales in July, LVR data shows.

The association’s president, Aldo Martinez, told the Review-Journal that the market is “not seeing anything that’s out of the norm” for this time of year, noting that prices are still rising but not as much as they did in prior months.

Houses are still getting multiple offers and selling quickly, but given Las Vegas’ record-setting home values and locals’ incomes, buyers here are getting “maxed out,” he said.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.