Southern Nevada home sales on rise as price growth cools off

Las Vegas’ housing market had another big jump in sales from year-earlier levels as prices stayed relatively flat, a new report shows.

A total of 2,283 single-family homes traded hands in January, down 12.5 percent from December but up 25.2 percent from January 2019, according to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, which reports data from its resale-heavy listing service.

The median sales price of such homes was $305,000 last month, down 2.6 percent from December but up 1.7 percent from a year earlier, the GLVAR reported.

Previously owned single-family houses comprise the bulk of Las Vegas’ sales market.

Sales rising again

All told, the report shows that Southern Nevada home sales, which slumped last year, are rising again as the valley’s once-rapid price growth continues to cool off.

Las Vegas’ housing market overall slowed down in 2019 after a heated stretch sparked affordability concerns, but the year ended with a burst of resales. Around 2,600 houses traded hands in normally slow December, up almost 22 percent from a year earlier, the GLVAR reported.

Still, as price growth levels off, Las Vegas’ median house price remains below its pre-recession peak of $315,000, set in mid-2006 — underscoring how high the market soared during the bubble, how badly it crashed afterward and how long the trek back has been.

The price gap is bigger than it appears, too. Adjusted for inflation, the pre-recession peak price was about $398,950 in today’s dollars.

GLVAR President Tom Blanchard, of Renters Warehouse, said in a statement he thinks it’s a “good bet” Las Vegas “finally” breaks its price record this year.

He pointed out that prices in most U.S. markets have already surpassed their pre-recession peaks.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.