Home prices rose in nearly every ZIP code last year

Home prices rose in nearly every ZIP code in the Las Vegas Valley last year as cheap borrowing costs fueled a market boom, bucking the otherwise dreary economy.

The biggest price jump last year, 20 percent, was in the 89146 ZIP code around Sahara Avenue and Jones Boulevard, among the 10 ZIP codes with double-digit price gains from 2019 to 2020, according to a new report from SalesTraq, the residential research arm of Las Vegas consulting firm Applied Analysis.

Prices fell in only two of the 56 ZIP codes listed in the report, which, using Clark County property records, tracked the changes in the median sales price of previously owned homes.

Southern Nevada’s housing market was initially hit with some turbulence when the coronavirus outbreak sparked sweeping business closures and other chaos a little over a year ago, as the pipeline of home sales shrank fast amid the turmoil. But the market regained its footing and embarked on a now-monthslong streak of record-high prices and rising sales despite huge job losses in the Las Vegas area and sharp drops in tourism, the region’s main financial engine.

By all accounts, rock-bottom mortgage rates have provided much of the fuel by letting people — at least those who can still afford to buy a place — lock in lower monthly payments and stretch their budgets.

Housing hot spots

Brian Gordon, a principal with Applied Analysis, said home prices also have been pushed up by strong population growth and a low availability of homes for sale. He noted that older areas of the valley posted some of the biggest price jumps in 2020, similar to prior years, though the top gains were a little more spread out than usual beyond the more centrally located communities.

Prices rose 10.1 percent in the 89052 ZIP code around Eastern Avenue and Sunridge Heights Parkway in Henderson, for instance, and 11.3 percent in the 89113 ZIP code around Buffalo Drive and the 215 Beltway in the southwest valley.

Similar to past years, the top prices were concentrated in the valley’s outer rings in suburban communities such as Summerlin and Anthem. The highest median sales price, $535,000, was in the 89138 ZIP code around Alta and Desert Foothills drives in Summerlin.

Gordon confirmed it was the first time in at least several years that prices shot past the half-million-dollar mark in a local ZIP code.

Buyers picked up the most homes, 1,521, in the 89031 ZIP code around Ann Road and Clayton Street in North Las Vegas.

Overall, nearly 42,700 homes on the resale market traded hands last year, down 6.9 percent from 2019, but the median purchase price, $298,000, was up 9 percent, SalesTraq found.

‘Hyperinflation’

The market has heated up despite severe economic fallout from the pandemic. The outbreak kept people sheltering at home and avoiding big crowds over fear of getting infected, devastating the tourism industry and temporarily turning the Strip into a ghost town of shuttered resorts and quiet sidewalks last year.

At one point, one out of every three people in the valley was out of work after the pandemic hit. Southern Nevada has since recouped many of the jobs it lost but still lags much of the country.

Las Vegas’ jobless rate in January, 9.9 percent, was second-highest in the nation among major metro areas, federal officials reported.

Nevertheless, Southern Nevada homebuilders saw the most sales activity in well over a decade in February, and on the resale market, the median purchase price for single-family homes reached another all-time high that month.

Broker Aldo Martinez, president of trade association Las Vegas Realtors, said that he is “starting to get a little fearful of the hyperinflation,” adding that if prices keep rising, they could max out families’ buying power.

The market, however, is showing no signs of cooling. Martinez said he recently listed his sister-in-law’s house at Eastern and Sunridge Heights, and it had 25 showings the first day it was available to tour.

Seven offers were made, all at or above the asking price.

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