Las Vegas condo, townhome prices hit record highs

Las Vegas condo and townhome prices hit a record high in August, according to a new report from the Las Vegas Realtors.

The median price of condos and townhomes sold in the Las Vegas Valley last month set an all-time high of $287,000. This is an 8.3 percent jump from $264,900 in August of last year and bests the previous record of $285,000 set in May 2022, according to data pulled from the Multiple Listings Service.

Las Vegas Realtors President Lee Barrett said although home prices have not moved around substantially — posting their first drop since January — the market for townhomes and condos is another story.

“Homes prices haven’t changed much lately,” Barrett said. “As for the record price for condos and townhomes, I attribute that to the demand for lower-priced housing options exceeding our supply. Mortgage rates are obviously a factor. But as we’ve been saying all year, the biggest challenge we face in the local housing market is a very tight housing supply.”

In August, there were 2,649 existing single-family homes, condos and townhomes sold during the month, a 0.3 percent increase from August of last year for single-family homes, and a 4.7 percent jump for condos and townhomes.

The LVR report said there has been a marked slowdown in the Las Vegas property market coming out of the pandemic, which sent the housing market on a roller coaster ride fueled by cheap money and low-interest rates. This was followed by a historic rise in home prices and sales across the country, which was soon tempered by the Federal Reserve raising interest rates to stem runaway inflation early last year.

According to a recent report from online real estate brokerage Redfin, almost all homeowners in the U.S. have a mortgage rate that is under 6 percent, and the typical monthly mortgage payment on a median asking price home was a record-high $2,649 at the end of August, with the rate at 7.23 percent. That’s up 18 percent from a year earlier. The LVR reported that this has substantially changed the market.

“Fewer homes have been selling this year than during 2022, when LVR reported 35,584 total sales,” the LVR’s monthly sales report said. “That followed a record year for existing local home sales in 2021, when LVR reported 50,010 homes, condos, townhomes 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.”

The total sum of real estate transactions in the Las Vegas Valley last month tracked through MLS was close to $1.2 billion for homes and more than $195 million for condos, high-rise condos and townhomes. Compared with August 2022, total sales last month were up 8.6 percent for homes, and 13.4 percent for condos and townhomes.

Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at pblennerhassett@reviewjournal.com