A report released Oct. 6 by Las Vegas Realtors shows local home prices continuing their record run despite the coronavirus pandemic and an increasingly tight housing supply.
LVR (formerly known as the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors) reported the median price of existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada through its Multiple Listing Service during September was $337,250. That’s up 8.8 percent from $310,000 during the same month last year and marks a new all-time record.
Local condos and town homes sold for a median price of $195,500 in September. That’s up 14.3 percent from $171,000 in September of 2019.
“Local home prices keep setting records, which is really remarkable when you think about all the challenges we’re facing,” said 2020 LVR President Tom Blanchard, a longtime local Realtor. “The pause during the beginning of the pandemic seems to have pushed the traditional summer sales season into the fall. We’ll see if we can sustain this momentum heading into next year. We’re also dealing with a housing shortage, with no signs of that changing anytime soon.”
With Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak’s order allowing open houses to resume starting Oct. 1, Blanchard sees the potential for even more activity and “more properties coming onto the market as investors start bringing their tenant-occupied properties back on line — since we can now show those.”
LVR reported a total of 3,996 existing local homes, condos and town homes were sold during September. Compared withthe same time last year, September sales were up 18.9 percent for homes and up 6.8 percent for condos and town homes.
Blanchard said the local housing market continues to benefit from strong demand and mortgage interest rates that are hovering around all-time lows. It helps that the local housing market was on solid footing when Nevada declared a state of emergency in March. At the time, local home sales were running ahead of last year’s pace and existing local home prices had just surpassed their longstanding record of $315,000 set back in June of 2006.
According to LVR, the median price of existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada hit a post-recession bottom of $118,000 in January of 2012 before rebounding steadily since then.
Blanchard said the number of local homes available for sale remains well below the six-month supply considered to be a balanced market. In fact, he said, the sales pace in September equates to less than a two-month supply of homes available for sale, creating a local housing shortage.
By the end of September, LVR reported 4,798 single-family homes listed for sale without any sort of offer. That’s down 34.6 percent from one year ago. For condos and town homes, the 1,525 properties listed without offers in September represent a 16.7 percent drop from one year ago.
LVR reported that 17.9 percent of all local properties sold in September were purchased with cash. That compares with 23 percent one year ago. That’s well below the February 2013 peak of 59.5 percent, suggesting that cash buyers and investors have been less active in the local housing market.
Despite the coronavirus crisis, the number of so-called distressed sales remains near historically low levels. The association reported that short sales and foreclosures combined accounted for just 1 percent of all existing local property sales in September. That compares to 2 percent of all sales one year ago, 2.5 percent two years ago and 5.2 percent three years ago.
Blanchard expects distressed sales to remain low as long as state and federal moratoriums remain in place to prevent most evictions and certain foreclosures.
These LVR statistics include activity through the end of September 2020. LVR distributes statistics each month based on data collected through its MLS, which does not necessarily account for 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 $1.3 billion for homes and nearly $153 million for condos, high-rise condos and town homes. Compared to one year ago, total sales values in September were up 33.8 percent for homes and up 22 percent for condos and town homes.
In September, 82.6 percent of all existing local homes and 79.9 percent of all existing local condos and town homes sold within 60 days. That compares to one year ago, when 75.5 percent of all existing local homes and 72.2 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 15,000 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.