Local home prices post first monthly decline since 2020

A report released Wednesday by Las Vegas Realtors offers more proof the local housing market is cooling off after a long hot streak of record prices and strong sales.

LVR reported the median price of existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada through its Multiple Listing Service during June was $480,000. That was down from the all-time record price of $482,000 in May, marking the first time since April of 2020 that local home prices declined from one month to the next. The median price is still up 21.5 percent from $395,000 one year ago.

Likewise, the median price of local condos and town homes sold in June decreased to $280,000. That was down 1.8 percent from the all-time record price of $285,000 in May. Condo and town home prices are still up 29.6 percent from $216,000 in June 2021.

LVR President Brandon Roberts, a longtime local Realtor, said existing local home prices have more than quadrupled since hitting their post-recession bottom in January of 2012, when the median single-family home price in Southern Nevada was $118,000. But now, he sees prices stabilizing as fewer homes are selling, more homes are hitting the market and more sellers are lowering their asking prices.

“Rising mortgage interest rates sparked a slowdown that was bound to happen at some point,” Roberts said. “Local home prices can’t keep going up at the rate they have been the past few years. More stable prices, along with the increasing number of homes on the market and decreasing number of homes being sold, are providing some relief for potential buyers.”

By the end of June, LVR reported 5,746 single-family homes listed for sale without any sort of offer. That’s up 134.1 percent from the same time last year. Likewise, the 1,340 condos and town homes listed without offers in June represent a 133 percent jump from one year earlier.

LVR reported a total of 3,404 existing local homes, condos and town homes sold in June. Compared to one year earlier, sales were down 24.7 percent for homes and down 22 percent for condos and town homes.

With the increased inventory, June’s sales pace equates to just over a two-month supply of properties available for sale. While that’s twice as much inventory as past months, Roberts said Southern Nevada is still dealing with a very tight housing supply by historical standards.

So far this year, existing local home sales are down from the same time in 2021. According to LVR, 2021 was a record year for existing home sales in Southern Nevada, with 50,010 homes, condos, town homes and other residential properties selling. That was the first time the association reported more than 50,000 local properties changing hands in a year, and it topped the previous record set in 2011 by nearly 2,000 sales. By comparison, LVR reported 41,155 total sales during 2020.

During June, LVR found that 34.2 percent of all local property sales were purchased with cash. That’s up from 30.4 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.

Aided by restrictions on evictions and foreclosures during the pandemic, the number of so-called distressed sales remains near historically low levels. LVR reported that short sales and foreclosures combined accounted for 0.5 percent of all existing local property sales in June. That compares to 0.7 percent one year ago, 2.2 percent of all sales two years ago, 2.2 percent of all sales three years ago, 2.6 percent four years ago and 6.3 percent five years ago.

These LVR statistics include activity through the end of June 2022. 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 June was nearly $1.6 billion for homes and more than $218 million for condos, high-rise condos and town homes. Compared to one year ago, total sales values in June were down 9.9 percent for homes and down 2.8 percent for condos and town homes.

Homes have been selling faster this year than previous years. In June, 95.4 percent of all existing local homes and 96 percent of all existing local condos and town homes sold within 60 days. That compares to one year ago, when 95.4 percent of all existing local homes and 93.2 percent of all existing local condos and town homes sold within 60 days.

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