Home, condo prices same as one year ago

A recent Las Vegas Realtors report shows prices for local homes and condos holding steady, matching prices from one year ago.

LVR reported the median price of existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada through its Multiple Listing Service during September was $450,000, matching the median price in September 2022. Local home prices are still below the all-time record of $482,000 set in May 2022.

Likewise, the median price of local condos and town homes sold in September was $270,000, the same price as September 2022. That’s down 5.9 percent from the all-time high of $287,000 set in August.

LVR President Lee Barrett, a longtime local Realtor, said a historically tight housing supply and recently rising mortgage interest rates continue to drive the housing market.

“We should probably get used to the current housing market since it’s not likely to change much anytime soon,” Barrett said. “Hopefully, some of our national experts are right in predicting that interest rates could begin to come down a bit sometime next year. Even at current rates and with our very tight housing supply, owning a home here in Southern Nevada is a better deal than renting for most people, especially when you consider that homeownership is still one of the best ways to build wealth and financial stability over time.”

By the end of September, LVR reported 4,066 single-family homes listed for sale without any sort of offer. That’s down 49.9 percent from the same time last year. Similarly, the 1,035 condos and town homes listed without offers in September represent a 44 percent decline from one year earlier.

LVR reported a total of 2,374 existing local homes, condos and town homes sold in September. Compared with September 2022, sales were down 10.3 percent for homes but up 5.5 percent for condos and town homes.

The sales pace in September equates to just over a two-month supply of properties available for sale. Last year at this time, Southern Nevada had nearly a four-month housing supply.

Fewer homes have been selling this year than during 2022, when LVR reported 35,584 total sales. That followed a record year for existing local home sales in 2021, when LVR reported 50,010 homes, condos, town homes and other residential properties were sold. That was the first time LVR reported more than 50,000 local properties selling in a year. It topped the previous record set in 2011 by nearly 2,000 sales.

During September, LVR found that 27.9 percent of all local property sales were cash transactions. That is up from 25.8 percent one year ago. That is well below the May 2013 cash buyer peak of 59.5 percent, suggesting that investors have been less active in the local housing market.

The number of distressed sales remains near historically low levels. LVR reported that short sales and foreclosures combined accounted for 1.3 percent of all existing local property sales in September. That compares with 0.1 percent one year ago, 0.4 percent two years ago, 1 percent three years ago, 2 percent four years ago and 2.5 percent five years ago.

These LVR statistics include activity through the end of September. LVR distributes statistics each month based on data collected through its MLS, which does not account for all newly constructed homes sold by local builders or homes for sale by owners. Other highlights include:

The total value of local real estate transactions tracked through the MLS during September was more than $1 billion for homes and more than $159 million for condos, high-rise condos and town homes. Compared with one year earlier, total sales values in September were down 6.9 percent for homes but up 4 percent for condos and town homes.

In September, 85.7 percent of all existing local homes and 86.3 percent of all existing local condos and town homes sold within 60 days. That compares with one year earlier, when 85.2 percent of all existing local homes and 87.4 percent of all existing local condos and town homes sold within 60 days.

Las Vegas Realtors (formerly known as Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors) was founded in 1947 and provides its nearly 17,000 local members with education, training and political representation. The local representative of the National Association of Realtors, LVR is the largest professional organization in Southern Nevada.