Las Vegas housing market stabilizes, but still sets records

A recent Las Vegas Realtors report shows the local housing market starting to stabilize even while home prices set another record.

LVR reported the median price of existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada through its Multiple Listing Service during September was $406,500. That continues to move upward from the all-time record of $405,000 set in July.

The median home price is up 20.5 percent from $337,250 one year ago. The median price of local condos and townhomes sold in September was $230,000. That’s also an all-time record and up 17.6 percent from $195,000 in September 2020.

“The housing market is starting to stabilize nationwide. This month’s LVR statistics suggest that we may be doing the same here in Southern Nevada,” said LVR President Aldo Martinez, a longtime local Realtor. “Prices are still increasing, but they’re going up more gradually than in previous months. We may be getting back to the type of seasonal trends we were used to seeing before the pandemic. Local home prices and sales typically peak during the summer and slow down a bit in the fall and winter before rising again in the spring. The pandemic disrupted this pattern last year.”

Martinez added that “local home prices have been rising much faster than incomes, and this has prompted some buyers to look for more affordable options, like condominiums, townhomes and even renting. This is reflected in the new September median high of $230,000 for condos and townhomes.”

Meanwhile, the local housing supply remains tight but has stopped shrinking in recent months. September marked the eighth straight month when there were more homes available without offers than in the previous month.

By the end of September, LVR reported 3,463 single-family homes listed for sale without any sort of offer. That’s down 27.8 percent from the same time last year. The 628 condos and townhomes listed without offers in September was down 58.8 percent from one year ago.

LVR reported a total of 4,078 existing local homes, condos and townhomes sold during September. Compared with one year ago, September sales were down 1.9 percent for homes and up 19.7 percent for condos and townhomes.

Homes continue to sell at a faster pace than last year. Martinez said the current sales pace equates to just over a one-month supply of properties available for sale.

As for other trends, Martinez said the high end of the local housing market continues to outperform the overall market. In fact, he said, 2021 will end up setting a new benchmark for sales of homes priced over $1 million.

The local housing market has been rebounding steadily since hitting its post-recession bottom in early 2012. Since the pandemic started, Martinez said, the local market has generally followed national trends, with a shortage of homes available for sale, strong demand and historically low mortgage interest rates paving the path to record home prices.

In addition, he said, builders’ inability to catch up with population growth over the years has added to the supply issue, leading to higher residential prices. Builders are just not able to construct enough homes to meet the demand.”

During September, LVR reported that 29.1 percent of all local property sales were purchased with cash. That’s up from 17.9 percent one year ago. While that percentage has been increasing this year, it’s still below the March 2013 cash buyer peak of 59.5 percent.

With eviction and foreclosure bans still a factor, the number of so-called distressed sales remains near historically low levels. LVR reported that short sales and foreclosures combined accounted for 0.4 percent of all existing local property sales in September. That compares with 1 percent of all sales one year ago, 2 percent of all sales two years ago, 2.5 percent three years ago and 5.2 percent four 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 nearly $1.6 billion for homes and more than $218 million for condos, high-rise condos and townhomes. Compared with one year ago, total sales values in September were up 17.1 percent for homes and up 42.9 percent for condos and townhomes.

■ Homes have been selling faster this year than in previous years. In September, 94.7 percent of all existing local homes and 93.8 percent of all existing local condos and townhomes sold within 60 days. That compares with one year ago, when 82.6 percent of all existing local homes and 79.9 percent of all existing local condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.

Las Vegas Realtors (formerly known as GLVAR) was founded in 1947 and provides its more than 16,500 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. Each member receives the highest level of professional training and must abide by a strict code of ethics. For more information, visit LasVegasRealtor.com.